Join the circus with Brendan Brisk Band at River Street Jazz Café

Gabrielle Lang, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·4 min read

Nov. 2—PLAINS — Brendan Brisk Brand returns home to headline the River Street Jazz Café for a special show with Seven Teller and Newpy Hundo. Don't miss out on "Cirque Du Jazz Café," an eclectic one-time-only live concert.

The Friday night show November 3 is presented by Astrology Days and taps into the circus' spectacularly bizarre atmosphere that fringes on reality and fantasy.

Tickets are $10 pre-sale and $15 on the day of the show. The doors open at 8 p.m. with the DJ sets beginning right away.

It was Brendan Brisk Band's idea to put this NEPA music celebration together! They're turning the River Street Jazz Café into their own carnival with help from Wilkes-Barre Bike Gang (WBBG). The circus concept perfectly fits the local band's psychedelic wonderland vibe.

Brendan Brisk Band is excited to make another 2023 appearance at the River Street Jazz Café. They last visited for their "NEVER EVERYWHERE" EP release show back in February.

This will be their home-base show as all the members hail from NEPA and three out of the four are from Wilkes-Barre.

"We tried to make it as special as we could, that's why we leaned into the Circus of Jazz Café theme," said drummer Justin Malinowski in his interview with The Weekender.

As an added bonus for lovers of absurdity and the arts, Malinowski says they'll also raffle off five one-of-a-kind "mystery boxes" created by local artists such as Matt Rattigan, A.J. Bartoletti, Bernard Gavlick, and more!

Artists were asked to curate a special prize box of completely unknown contents for the event. Who knows what unique surprises may lurk inside from influential figures from the region!

"It's really exciting to bring the Wilkes-Barre community together," said Malinowski.

Malinowski is going on five years with Brendan Brisk Band. He met founding frontman Brendan Brisk back in high school when a guitar player couldn't make band practice and Brisk filled in. From there, Malinowski and Brisk had an instant connection. They played together and stayed in touch over the years until Brisk asked him to join the band.

Brendan Brisk Band rises in popularity year after year. After their 2016 debut record, "Astral Counterfeit", lead guitarist and singer Brendan Brisk decided to bring his songs to the stage and secure a full band. That's when he brought in Justin Malinowski on drums, Devin Wachter on bass, and Miles Orfanella on trumpet.

Brendan Brisk Band combines 2010s indie vibes with classic jam band styles. Their music blends traditions of blues, folk, funk, psychedelia, and jazz with modern influences to design fresh toe-tapping, festival-ready jams. Their on-stage performances use improvisation while always remaining anchored to a danceable rhythm.

Brendan Brisk Band aims to get their audience grooving off in a new dimension where they can release the struggles of the everyday and just embrace every sound and feeling.

— Sounds like circus energy to me!

Seven Teller, The other band on the Cirque Du Jazz Café bill, is a groove rock band from Baltimore that blends folk, funk, indie, and world music.

They're an up-and-coming band in the same genre as Brendan Brisk Band, so these two decided to swap venues. In exchange for the circus show, Brendan Brisk band will play in March down in Seven Teller's hometown of Baltimore.

Opening act, Newpy Hundo is another Wilkes-Barre virtuoso who went to high school with Malinowski and some of his bandmates.

Newpy Hundo is a local DJ who's honed his craft over 10 years and continuously adds to his wide arsenal of music. After winning a DJ mix contest to perform at Camp Bisco in 2015, he gained fans from all over and began booking sets in major cities. He created Funkstronaut Productions and Satellite Ranch Music Festival.

Brendan Brisk Band has played with Newpy Hundo quite a bit over the years and they look forward to having him back to set the stage (or should I say big tent) for the circus-style environment.

The Cirque Du Jazz Café show headlined by Brendan Brisk Band is presented by Astrology Days. Astrology Days is a local record label and production studio by Ben Travers that supports Brendan Brisk Band, Cabinet, and many more.

Come out and join the circus on Friday, November 3, at 8:00 p.m. Purchase pre-sale tickets here.

Support the arts in NEPA while partaking in all the fun and absurdity of the carnival at Brendan Brisk Band's hometown show inside River Street Jazz Café.