It quickly became clear that Byrne was looking to do more than sing a Moondog tune. <\/p>\n
\u201cI really liked the Moondog record, and I figured this is a good chance for me to kind of get to know them, to see how they work,\u201d Byrne said. <\/p>\n
Within days, Byrne suggested that Ghost Train Orchestra should be the band on the record he was making. The result is the new album \u201cWho Is The Sky?,\u201d which arrived in early September. Byrne and his ensemble bring the project to the Boch Center Wang Theatre Oct. 2-4, followed by an appearance at Providence\u2019s Veterans Memorial Auditorium Oct. 5.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like how they have an orchestra sound, but they also have bass, drums, and guitar,\u201d Byrne said via Zoom from the New York home that inspired \u201cMy Apartment Is My Friend,\u201d one of the songs on the record.<\/p>\n
Byrne also asked Ghost Train Orchestra to do the arrangements of the songs for the album, noting, \u201cI figured that they would know their own strengths and weaknesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the songs, \u201cEverybody Laughs,\u201d was arranged by trombonist \u200b\u200bCurtis Hasselbring, a New England Conservatory graduate whose time in Boston also included playing with the <\/b>storied Boston jazz group Either\/Orchestra<\/a> and Boston saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThey came up with this instrumental passage that happens twice in the song, and it really lifted that section of the song up. It tells you \u2018This is a celebration,\u2019\u201d Byrne said. \u201cSo the music is doing more than just supporting me. It tells its own story.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of using a band as opposed to random session musicians,\u201d added Carpenter, who said that Byrne biked to the group\u2019s rehearsals for months before the album was recorded. \u201cYou already have built-in mechanics and chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n Carpenter has lived in Boston for 25 years, but the rest of the band, including Massachusetts-raised banjo and guitar player Brandon Seabrook, is based in New York. Over the years, Carpenter\u2019s constant and imaginative creativity have yielded other Boston-based groups, including Beat Circus<\/a> and the Confessions<\/a>, and he hosts a weekly WZBC show called \u201cFree Association.\u201d <\/p>\n In his various outfits, Carpenter can be found playing trumpet and harmonica, singing, arranging, and composing. Much of the music he plays on the radio and on stage could be labeled as avant-garde. Byrne looks at that particular world in his song \u201cThe Avant Garde,\u201d where he muses, \u201cNow I like the idea, their politics too\/ But I\u2019m not really sure if that means that it\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe song may sound like it\u2019s being very critical, but it\u2019s actually not,\u201d Byrne explained. \u201cI\u2019ll go see something, whether it\u2019s a theater performance or a music thing or dance, sometimes knowing very little [about it]. So it\u2019s kind of a high risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Like with \u201cAmerican Utopia,\u201d Byrne devotes \u201cWho Is The Sky?\u201d to often off-beat and cheerful music regardless of the social and political environment. One song, \u201cMoisturizing Thing,\u201d imagines an anti-aging skin product that works so well it makes someone of Byrne\u2019s age look like an infant. Another, \u201cA Door Called No,\u201d was inspired by a sign he saw on a door in a public space. <\/p>\n \u201cIt just said \u2018No,\u2019 and I thought \u2018That\u2019s a song title,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt could be about racism or different exclusionary parts of society \u2026 but it\u2019s not necessarily about going into that door, but about finding a completely different way of looking at things.\u201d<\/p>\n Byrne\u2019s dedication to looking on the bright side includes his digital news outlet Reasons to be Cheerful. A recent post celebrated a Boston cargo bike share. <\/p>\n \u201cIn some ways, things are not good at all, and there\u2019s a lot to be concerned about,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it is also true that we\u2019ve evolved to be attracted to negative news more than anything positive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur readership is up, our memberships are up,\u201d he added. \u201cPeople actually need that kind of news more than they ever did.\u201d <\/p>\n Ghost Train Orchestra was originally organized as part of an event that celebrated the 90th birthday of the Regent Theatre in Arlington, where Carpenter lives. The group\u2019s first records drew on the sounds and repertoires of early jazz bands<\/a>, but Carpenter said that \u201cSongs and Symphoniques\u201d marked a new direction for the band. Its next project, which premieres at Roulette in Brooklyn in November, is \u201cCITIES,\u201d which Carpenter described as a \u201cmusical travelogue\u201d of pieces composed by group members that were inspired by urban locales around the world, <\/b>such as Beijing and Las Vegas.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Byrne is embarking on a tour supporting \u201cWho Is The Sky?\u201d <\/b>that will find him and his ensemble of dancers and musicians using wireless technology that allows them to be fully mobile on stage. It\u2019s an approach he started with \u201cAmerican Utopia.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t realize that that would kind of democratize the performance experience \u2014 all the musicians can come to the front,\u201d he said. \u201cNow that I\u2019ve figured out how we can all be kind of liberated from that, it would be hard to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n And don\u2019t be surprised if you see a familiar shock of white hair riding in a Boston bike lane. Byrne noted that his touring gear will yet again include folding cycles for the ensemble members to ride in each city they perform in: \u201cWe\u2019re bringing the bikes!\u201d<\/p>\n DAVID BYRNE<\/b><\/p>\n