The amazing ensemble known as the Florida Björkestra returns to their home turf at the Palladium on Sunday, March 31, this time with a show called: The Secret World: The Music of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush.
After hits with shows featuring music by their namesake artist, along with Buffyfest I and II, and last spring’s Madonna/George Michael combo, the 20-piece Florida Björkestra is on a roll. If you haven’t experienced one of these magical events, please don’t miss this one.
For tickets and information to the 3/31 show that starts at 6 p.m. just follow this link. https://www.mypalladium.org/the-florida-bjorkestra-peter-gabriel-and-kate-bush/
The Florida Björkestra is a small army of talent features a full horn and string sections, six vocalists, a tight rhythm section and the great Jeremy Douglass, the founder and arranger, on keys.
St. Pete Catalyst, the on-line news magazine, just published a piece on the band, written by Bill DeYoung, a guy who knows more than a little about music. His last book was about the celebrated Tampa-based producer Phil Gernhard, and he cut his musical teeth in Gainesville when a guy named Tom Petty was playing there.
Here’s an excerpt from Bill’s story. To read the rest, just follow this link: https://stpetecatalyst.com/the-florida-bjorkestra-eccentric-music-fans-for-fans/
Jeremy Douglass (upper left) with members of his musical gang: Colleen Cherry, left, Kasondra Rose, Jamie Perlow and Ronnie Dee. Photo by Bill DeYoung.
By Bill DeYoung
At any given moment, there’s an average of 20 people in the Florida Björkestra, the St. Petersburg phenomenon that regularly defies expectations of what a pop band can, and cannot, do.
For three years now, the ensemble has conceived, arranged, rehearsed and performed a string of concerts spotlighting the music of left-of-center performers like Kate Bush, David Bowie, Tori Amos, Peter Gabriel and Björk, the quirky Icelandic singer/songwriter whose mono-moniker gave the group its name.
Since the beginning, the one constant in the Florida Björkestra has been its founder, Jeremy Douglass.
He’s a pianist, composer and arranger who’s been a key player in Tampa Bay music circles for two decades. “Since I was a kid,” the 44-year-old Douglass explains, “my fantasy was always to be onstage, playing in the ensembles on the music I listened to. I never imagined myself as, like, David Bowie. I imagined myself as a musician in David Bowie’s band. What would it feel like to be playing that stuff?”
Because it’s such a close-knit community, Douglass had no shortage of takers when he proposed a single event, a salute to Björk at the tiny Hideaway Café in the spring of 2016. Like Douglass himself, many of his musician friends were ardent fans of what he calls “fringe pop,” lushly produced and miles off the mainstream.
Not that they got to play it all that often. “In our profession, we have to cater to our wheelhouse, and where we’re booked that night,” says singer Jamie Perlow, whose passion for Björk usually takes a back seat to her regular gig, singing jazz and cabaret. “And this has none of that. This is just like a free-for-all for us. We get to explore different parts of ourselves, and express ourselves in different ways. I would never get to perform Björk songs anywhere but within this group.”
That Hideaway debut sold out, as has every Florida Björkestra performance (in the larger Palladium Theater) since. “When we did Björk, and saw all the people that came to see that show, a lightbulb went off in my head: There’s an audience for this; it’s not just me who wants to play it,” Douglass recalls. “So we were like let’s do it again.”
The group returns to the Palladium March 31 for The Secret World: The Music of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush.
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