NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” represent Friday, July 19; Saturday is July 20; Sunday is July 21.
PORT ANGELES — The name tells you exactly what it is: Polyrhythmics, many players of lots of rhythms, in the Afrobeat tradition — with a particular role for the audience.
“The crowd becomes the dance component of the performance,” says Ben Bloom, Polyrhythmics’ guitarist.
His band is big, like Afrobeat outfits: eight men dishing it out. But to complete the picture, they want dancers, for “a more circular experience” between the people on the stage and the people on the floor.
Polyrhythmics hasn’t had a problem getting people to dance. In just a year together, the octet has traveled from California to Colorado, jamming clubs and attracting fans at music festivals.
“Dance bands are making a comeback, everywhere,” Bloom says, and that stretches to Sequim and Port Angeles this summer.
Polyrhythmics will start the concert series at Olympic Cellars, 255410 U.S. Highway 101, on Saturday night with a 7 p.m. show. Tickets are $13 at www.OlympicCellars.com or $15 a the door.
A portion of proceeds will benefit Casting for Recovery, a program offering fly-fishing retreats for women in any stage of breast cancer (CastingforRecovery.org).
Bloom describes Polyrhythmics’ sound as unfettered “happy, with a lot of improv, a lot of great soloists,” and 98 percent original music. There are a few covers mixed in, but they’re given the Polyrhythmics treatment of course by Bloom, saxophonist-flutist Art Brown, bass man Jason Gray, Nathan Spicer on keys, trombonist Eli Clark, drummer Grant Schroff, trumpeter Scott Morning and percussionist Lalo Bello.
They’re into jazz, funk and soul, so “if you like James Brown . . . with intricate percussion and bass,” Bloom says, “you’ll have no trouble dancing and having a great time.
“When you’re in the trance starting to dance, the rhythms take you on a journey.”
Polyrhythmics’ single, “Bobo,” is out on a 45 rpm vinyl record as well as via the usual digital outlets, but the band has yet to release a full-length album. That’s coming in the fall, Bloom says: “Libra Stripes” will be released on CD, vinyl and digital download.
Meantime, the band has another Olympic Peninsula gig: the Aug. 24 Jungible Festival, a new event at the Jardin du Soleil lavender farm, 3932 Sequim-Dungeness Way. Polyrhythmics will be part of a varied lineup with Polecat, the reggae band Kore Ionz and Cort Armstrong’s Farmstrong. For details see www.JungibleFestival.com.
