Arco Belo draws its name from the words bow and bellow, reimagining a sound within the melding of reeds, strings and percussive timbres at the junction of the familiar and the avant-garde. The genrefluid ensemble brazenly employs language amongst the ruins of jazz, western-classical chamber music, and folk tunes from around the globe.

Led by pianist, accordionist and composer Simone Baron, the project features world-renowned bassist Michael Pope (Chick Corea, Michael and Randy Brecker, David Sanborn), and Brazilian-American drummer, percussionist and composer Lucas Ashby (Big Mean Sound MacHine, Kenia, Osei Korakye). With a string quartet of heavy-hitters from the U.S. and Canada, the group skips effortlessly from long-form neo-baroque string counterpoint to sludgy hip-hop pads; post-romantic cadenzas collide in moments of spontaneous noise with reedy prepared piano; guttural bow noises and cascading plectrum bring color to plush hypnotic grooves and sharply-angled linear phrases. The ensemble has performed at the historic Strathmore, the Kennedy Center and Georgetown University. Their long-awaited debut album, entitled the Space Between Disguises, will be released in the autumn of 2019.

[source: Bop Shop website, 2020-Mar-9]