"Ciocarlia Si Suite"

Too Hot for Sleep
(self-released)
(out of 5)

Orkestar Zirkonium is a 13-piece marching band with bouncy tuba rhythms, circus-y horn flourishes, and a killer clarinetist (Kevin Hinshaw) who sounds like he's been airlifted from a concert of Rhapsody in Blue and dropped into a Bulgarian brass band playing around a campfire. Drawing members from Circus Contraption, Infernal Noise Brigade, Reptet, and other projects, Orkestar came to life a few years ago as a mischievous marching band that played impromptu concerts in streets, bars, and supermarkets, collecting crowds as they went. (Find evidence at: tinyurl.com/836463q.) Since then, they've played commissioned gigs and recorded Too Hot for Sleep at Avast! in Seattle. Percussionist Anne Mathews describes their musical organization as a "mobocracy." There's no single music director, but people bring in original songs and new arrangements of traditional songs for the group to try. The result is an exuberant dose of Northwest Balkan brass—plus two saxophones and a clarinet.