Genres converge tonight in tribute to Tyrone Hill

What better tribute could a category-defying musician ask for than a show that truly blends genres?

That will be the case tonight when the Deep Space Posse takes the stage at the Calvary Center for Community and Culture for a show dedicated to trombonist Tyrone Hill, who died last month at 58.

The group, an offshoot of the Sun Ra Arkestra founded by Hill, who had been trombonist for the avant big band since 1979, will be followed by the Alash Ensemble of traditional Tuvan throat singers and instrumentalists.

Saxophonist Elliott Levin, the main non-Arkestra member of the DSP, described the show as an ideal memorial for the open-minded Hill. The two met when Levin was backing Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and Hill and other Arkestra members were backing soul crooner Billy Paul on the R&B circuit.

"He was one of the links for me between the different worlds, between playing the freer improvisational stuff and the world of rhythm and blues and popular music," Levin said of Hill. "He was somebody that felt equally at home in either world, and playing with guys like him gave more depth to different experiences.

"He was definitely a link for me between the Philadelphia music scene and the rest of the world."

Of course, there may be no stranger collision of worlds than that between the Arkestra, a big band that makes its home in Germantown but traces its origins to the vast reaches of outer space, and Alash, keeping alive a tradition that developed largely in isolation.

The Arkestra traveled to Tuva in 2004 for a festival (the first American jazz band to do so), which Arkestra leader and DSP altoist Marshall Allen summarized as "two weeks there in the mountains, exchanging ideas and music."

Alash was not alien to the concept of East-West meetings. The members of the ensemble are students of master singer Kongar-ool Ondar, who was featured in the 1999 documentary "Genghis Blues," about blind American bluesman Paul Pena's journey to Tuva to train in throat singing techniques.

For those unfamiliar with the music, Tuvan throat singing creates two to four distinct vocal tones simultaneously, resulting in an other-worldly drone overlaid by higher-pitched harmonics.

Crossroads Music, which presents ethnic, international and folk music at Calvary, brought Alash to Philadelphia last year. Daniel Flaumenhaft, coordinator of Crossroads Music, was surprised when the group asked him to place the Arkestra on the guest list. He assumed that the Tuvans, used to a smaller, more insular music scene, knew of the band's Philadelphia roots and figured they might show up.

Sure enough, Arkestra's second trombonist Dave Davis arrived during soundcheck.

At that point, Flaumenhaft recalled, "They finish the song, look up - none of them speak English - they see him standing there and they all together say, 'Oh, Sun Ra! Sun Ra!,' jump off the stage, rush over, big bear hugs, and he's a little bit surprised, a little bit amused and quite a bit gratified."

Coincidentally, the Deep Space Posse was performing that same night at Tritone, so after their own show, Alash members stopped in to catch a bit of the Posse's set.

When Alash approached Flaumenhaft about returning this year, he was wary of expending Crossroads' minimal resources on a repeat performance. Then he struck upon the idea of a double bill with the Arkestra.

Realizing that Calvary was too small a venue for the entire Arkestra, he approached Levin, who had assumed most of the organizational duties for the DSP during Hill's illness.

Levin recalled telling Hill about the gig, "and he was enthusiastic about it, but he died tragically the next day of a heart attack."

A memorial performance was held Saturday at North Philly's Church of the Advocate.

Flaumenhaft hopes that tonight's audience will appreciate the common ground these musicians have discovered.

"The nice thing about doing this show is that in the U.S., anyone who is coming to a Tuvan throat-singing show is going to be pretty open-minded musically, and anyone who's coming to an Arkestra show is going to be pretty open-minded musically, but they're not really audiences who would be going to each other's shows," he said.

"So hopefully we can replicate some of that feeling of discovery, of people coming from literally the far side of the world and not having verbal language in common, but being able to connect through music."*

Send e-mailto bradys@phillynews.com.

Calvary Center for Culture and Community, 48th Street and Baltimore Avenue, 7:30 tonight, $10-$20, www.crossroads.calvary-center.org.