The Creaking Tree String Quartet

Toronto's The Creaking Tree String Quartet is going to haul you out of St. Paul's church pews and get your feet dancing at its Jazz Fest show this Friday. With threads of roots, jazz, bluegrass and flash inspiration running through their music, the quartet---with members Andrew Collins, Brad Keller, Brian Kobayakawa and John Showman---is bringing glimpses of its fourth album to the show, which will be released soon. "With the first three records, we wrote the songs, rehearsed ad nauseam and took it on tour before recording it," says bassist Kobayakawa. "With this one, we took a different approach and a lot of it we were just learning in the studio or just creating in the studio." Kobayakawa adds that this improv recording style has left he and his bandmates with an album they "can't totally play yet," but this week is the new material's first road trip and he says they'll be able to play a lot more by Friday. New material or not, these guys deserve your attendance at this early show---it's going to be a fast one. –Holly Gordon