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GrooveLily pleases with jazz, violin, rock combination By ELISSA ENGLUND
The State News
Lansing – Valerie Vigoda flicked the bow across the electric violin’s strings, threw her head back and sang, her clear notes slicing through the crowd.
To her left, shoeless keyboarder Brendan Milburn laughed as his fingers flitted across the keys, and behind them both, Gene Lewin closed his eyes and seemed to lose himself in his drumming.
The group of strangers who packed into Old Town’s tiny Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St., on Friday saw not a performance, but friends laughing and playing their music.
The musicians come from different backgrounds with Vigoda’s classical violin, Lewin’s strong jazz influences and Milburn’s rock-style keyboarding and vocals, but the three individual styles blend into a spectacular fusion of sounds.
East Lansing resident Laura DeGuire described the trio as “fantastic.”
“The energy the audience had was a reflection of the energy the group gave us,” Deguire said. “What a gift.”
And Milburn said the three enjoyed playing in Lansing.
“This group has never been made to feel so welcome in a new town,” he said. “It was a party on wheels.”
Though Vigoda said Creole is much smaller than other venues she’s played in, she enjoys the variety of both large and small shows.
“The energy that comes from 20,000 people cheering is fantastic,” she said.
“But you can’t look into people’s faces that way.”
Lansing resident Ulyana Maystrenko attended Friday’s concert and said she was impressed with the group’s interaction.
“They were personable and very fun performers,” she said. “Sometimes you go to a concert and they’re not very interesting, but they were so interactive.”