Tom Rigney and Flambeau February 12, 2011

Tom Rigney, the fiery, electrifying violinist/composer, joins forces with some of the finest musicians on the San Francisco roots music scene to form Tom Rigney and Flambeau, a band that generates enough heat and energy to ignite a dance floor or lift an audience to its feet. Now into his second decade as the leader of Flambeau, the flamboyant Rigney has leapt dramatically into the spotlight as a performer and as a composer. Flambeau showcases his passionate, virtuoso fiddling, his commanding, charismatic stage presence, his range and originality as a composer, and, of course, those notorious red boots! His band mates are all longtime veterans of the Bay Area roots music scene and together they have forged a unique sound that blends American Roots styles into something completely original and HOT--a sound that mixes irresistibly infectious grooves with deep musicality, tight ensemble playing, and spectacular solos.

Flambeau specializes in blazing Cajun and zydeco two-steps, low-down blues, funky New Orleans grooves, Boogie Woogie piano and heartbreakingly beautiful ballads and waltzes. Most of the repertoire is composed by Rigney, but they also mix in a few classics from the Cajun/zydeco/New Orleans songbook. And if, along the way, you pick up a trace of Rigney’s Irish roots, or echoes of Eastern Europe or the coast of Spain, it just makes the musical gumbo that much tastier. In recent years Rigney’s skills as a composer have broadened and deepened, and he is today writing some of the most evocative and compelling music you will hear anywhere. His violin playing is ferociously virtuosic one minute and tonally rich and emotionally charged the next. And Rigney’s charismatic stage presence, humor, and high-energy showmanship pull the audience into his performances and make them feel that they are a part of the music and the show.

Official Website: http://www.142throckmortontheatre.org