Band of Opportunity

Did you hear about the two guys who subbed for the entire Philadelphia Orchestra?

At the end of last season the power at the Mann Center suddenly cut off when lightning struck a transformer in Fairmount Park. Members of the orchestra urged their two most daring colleagues, violinist Zachary DePue, 24, and auxiliary bassist Ranaan Meyer, 26, to trot out their Time for Three repertoire, despite the absence of the trio's third member, violinist Nicolas Kendall, 25.

Meyer picks up the story. "We were to play Beethoven 1 and 9. I was psyched 'cause it would be only my second public performance of the Ninth. Then the lights went off, nobody could see their music!" The musicians cleared the stage to let the techs do their work.

Meyer went over to the violin section. There was DePue, "with about 10 people surrounding him, including the director of the Mann, urging him to find me. Zach's eyes were pretty big at the thought, since he'd have to cover both his and Nick's parts."

But DePue is also the man who says "Improv is like wearing your pants without a belt. Yeah, your pants might fall down, so you just can't be afraid that you might show your bare ass."

So on they went. The 5,000-plus Beethoven lovers warmed quickly to the two. So quickly that after a 20-minute set they were called back to do another 15 minutes, recalls Meyer. Though the power never came back on, and the orchestra never played, the crowd was delighted.

"American fiddlers is how we describe ourselves," says Meyer, attempting to sum up Time for Three's eclectic musical fusions. Just because they are all Curtis alums and have indescribably refined chops on their instruments doesn't mean they have to forego the pleasures of playing what they please. Meyer and colleagues composed an American Suite to prove the point: gigue, hoedown, folk, bluegrass, jazz and spiritual.

In concert, watch their shared grins and glances. Time for Three members love what they do. They mix Hungarian czardas with a Bach double violin concerto, underscoring the blend with swing bass. Their version of "Orange Blossom Special" is undoubtedly what Ervin Rouse had in mind when he wrote that bluegrass standard. If you recognize the far-reaching segues you'll get an added frisson of surprise and pleasure, however, an appreciation of fine and imaginative playing is all you need.

"Roughly 80 percent of a show is arranged music, 20 percent is pure improv," says Meyer. "Improvising has an edge on written music. With written music it is tough to make it sound fresh when you've played it over and over."

Kendall, who pauses for a phone chat amid the flurry of activity at the Suzuki camp in Utah where he is teaching master classes, heartily agrees. Everyone in his family is a professional musician; his cousin is first-chair cello with the National Symphony, his sister Yumi will be in the Philadelphia Orchestra's cello section starting in September.

Yet, one of Kendall's most profound musical experiences was in Verbier, Switzerland with the Curtis Orchestra. There he had the chance to spend time with Sandor Deki Lakatos and his Gypsy Band. "Their music is all oral tradition and it has so much electrifying energy! It goes with my personality," he laughs. "I realized, "Oh, that's how you do it!' You just put your heart into it, don't worry about getting all the notes just right."

DePue says, "Most classically trained musicians are so used to seeing things on the written page they are almost scared to make things up. Yet, when you start digging, you find there are skills you can learn. You have your bag of different kinds of licks, trills, rhythms with the bow."

DePue is youngest of four fiddling brothers, including Jason DePue who performs with the Philadelphia Orchestra. When asked whom he looks to for inspiration he names brother Alex, now playing bluegrass and swing in Austin. He's the guy who insisted DePue master all the blues patterns in every key.

Meyer cites swing legend Milt Hinton, with whom he studied for two weeks at Skidmore, as a profound influence. "Just like Milt I love to do outreach programs." When Meyer does, he likes to do a Hinton impersonation, one that brings the sound and delivery of Red Foxx to mind.

""The bass is the best instrument!'" he says, quoting Hinton in character, ""It's the basement! Without it, the house falls down.'" Once he has the kids laughing, Meyer returns to his own personality to explain how he not only braces the rhythm, but gets to play his fair share of melody as well.

In individual conversations each member of Time for Three sooner or later compares music to language. They note that the more languages one learns, the easier it is to learn another. With Beatles and funk, gypsy and bluegrass mixed in with the "Serious Music," it seems the group members have yet to meet a musical language they don't want to speak.

"I don't even call myself a classical musician," says Kendall. "I just feel lucky to be in Philly. I've lived all over and the cultural life is the most organic of any East Coast city. People support each other; [there's] none of that "I dare you to entertain me!' attitude."

Time for Three, Fri., June 25, 5:45-8:15 p.m., $7-$10, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. and the Parkway, 215 763-8100; Sat., June 26, 11 p.m. as part of Summer Solstice Celebration, $10-$15, Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999; Sun., June 27, 5 p.m., free, Curtis Arboretum, Wyncote, 215-887-6200.




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