Cinematic Orchestra, the UK's startlingly adept live/studio electro-jazz act (led by arranger/programmer Jason Swinscoe), recently released Man with a Movie Camera (Ninja Tune)--their score for Dziga Vertov's 1929 avant-garde Russian film classic of the same title--which was originally commissioned and recorded for the 1999 Porto Film Festival in Portugal. Though a gorgeous body of work in its own right, many of these tracks inspired and were later released on 2002's Every Day LP, which to many is probably a more accurate representation of Cinematic Orchestra's high/low-brow genius appeal. On Every Day, Swinscoe and his five-member team successfully manifested jazz influences such as Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, soundtrack producers like Philip Glass and Ennio Morricone, and sample-based artists like Coldcut and St. Germain in a new form of experimental music. Cinematic Orchestra not only produce emotive melancholy and beautifully complex music in the studio, but picking up where so many so-called "nu-jazzers" seem smugly satisfied with DJing or electronically sequencing their finished product out live, also deliver on the too often cloudy notion of live musicianship--confidently reproducing the music from their records on stage. It's no stroke of luck that Cinematic Orchestra are already veterans of gigs like the Calgary Jazz Festival, and were chosen to perform at the Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award Ceremony for Stanley Kubrick.

Though 1999's LP Motion was highly revered with its accessible electronic nuances, Man with a Movie Camera--and even more so Every Day--communicated something much bolder by working with their primary influences on a more organic level. Every Day was also the first time that Cinematic Orchestra incorporated the use of a studio vocalist. Swinscoe incorporated the competent and poignant voice of legendary free-jazz vocalist Fontella Bass (who co-wrote and sang on the #1 R&B track "Rescue Me" in 1965) along with the spoken word of Roots Manuva. The pairing of Bass' performance with Swinscoe's music was stunning.

Swinscoe has realized the ultimate dream of every artist who has longed to bridge the rift between the live and electronic divide. He's mastered his own vision of programming and arranging with enough confidence to command his players, putting together a body of work that grabs your attention and holds on tight. NICOLAE WHITE

Cinematic Orchestra w/Suntzu Sound DJs AC Lewis, J-Justice, and Atlee, Thurs June 19 at Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 21+, 9 pm-2 am, $10.

nicolae@thestranger.com