Asphalt Orchestra at the Met Museum: April 23, 2012

Our latest Noteworthy Video is another “flash mob” – this one featuring the innovative Asphalt Orchestra (commonly referred to as “not your mother’s marching band”) – performing in the Metropolitan Museum's New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts in Manhattan. In this quirky and engaging video, the Asphalt Orchestra performs a medley of works mainly stemming from their latest album on Cantaloupe Records – a range of jazz-infused and contemporary works by such composers as Stew and Heidi Rodewald (of the Bang on a Can ensemble) and Frank Zappa, as well as new arrangements inspired by the “shape-note” tradition of 19th century America. Alongside the animated and casually-attired musicians we see the museum’s surprised and delighted patrons, with the museum’s grand architecture and stunning works of sculpture as the backdrop – a true post-modern experience. Tell us what you think!

Asphalt Orchestra performs a “flash mob” at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City