Ghost Train Orchestra

Known for leading various incarnations of his avant chamberesque folk-country outfit Beat Circus, Florida-born, Boston-based trumpeter (actually, multi-instrumentalist), bandleader, composer, arranger, and singer/songwriter Brian Carpenter is also the principal driving force behind Brooklyn's Ghost Train Orchestra, restoring to life some of the most ebullient -- and oftentimes under-appreciated or even largely forgotten -- music of early 20th century America.

A resident of the Boston area since 2001, Carpenter devoted considerable energy to the dark Americana of Beat Circus during the first decade, but increasingly focused more attention on Ghost Train Orchestra, assembled in 2006 to perform at the 90th anniversary celebration of Arlington's Regent Theatre and would become the seed for their critically-acclaimed debut Hothouse Stomp.

For sophomore album Book of Rhapsodies he extended the band's repertoire into the '30s and '40s but rather than follow a thread into prevailing jazz styles of those two decades, Carpenter transcribed and arranged odd and often highly complex (and high-spirited) compositions that truly transcended genre.

In 2019 Ghost Train Orchestra began a collaboration with the trailblazing Kronos Quartet and guests including Jarvis Cocker, Joan As Police Woman, Karen Mantler, Marissa Nadler, Rufus Wainwright, and Sam Amidon reimagining the music of visionary composer Moondog and resulting in their fifth album Songs and Symphoniques. ~ Dave Lynch, Rovi