Esthema, "Eastern Dance"

By Adam Olenn February 7, 2011 Hailed by Guitar Player magazine as a "world-class [group], with authenticity, aplomb, and exuberance," Esthema is a world fusion ensemble hailing from Boston that fuses progressive rock and jazz with traditional music of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Greek multi-instumentalist Tery Lemanis, Brazilian percussionist Bruno Esrubilsky, and Argentinian bassist Ignacio Long all studied at Berklee. They are currently performing in support of their second CD, The Hereness and Nowness of Things, which Skope magazine says "marks them as maestros of their instruments and as masters of world fusion." One of the songs from that album, "Eastern Dance," climbed to the no. 4 spot on IndieMusic.com. It's a modern rock interpretation of a traditional near-Eastern belly-dancing rhythm called a tsifteteli (tseef-ta-telli), and the newest Sounds of Berklee podcast.