New Music: Jeff Elbel + Ping - 'Three Finger Opera'

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of completing mixes for the Chicago-area progressive roots-pop collective known as Jeff Elbel + Ping. Their new album, entitled “The Threefinger Opera,” is a virtual jukebox of musical styles ranging from country to rock. Elbel, a masterful storyteller and songwriter, assembled a menagerie of musical guests, including the Beatleleles, Mitchell Connell (Love Coma), Cy Curnin (the Fixx), Derri Daugherty (the Choir), Dan Dixon (PLS PLS, Dropsonic), Johnny Iguana (the Claudettes), Glenn Kaiser (GKB, Resurrection Band), Greg Lawless (Adam Again), Phil Madeira (Red Dirt Boys, Mercyland), Joseph Mancuso (North), John Mark Painter (Fleming & John, Perfect Foil), Michael Pritzl (the Violet Burning), Michael Roe (the Seventy-Sevens), David Santos (Astropark, the Startles), Tom Sharpe (Mannheim Steamroller)
Chris Taylor (Love Coma), John J. Thompson (the Wayside), Michelle Thompson (the Wayside), and Martin Wenk (Calexico, Depedro).

The project was a blast to mix, blending a traditional rock n’ roll band aesthetic with spoken word, horns, woodwinds, strings, and ukulele.