An interesting concept, it of course begs the question: Is bigger really better?

Cudamani

"I think in a lot of ways it's what you do with it. And the same applies to music," chuckles Lenny Seidman, the Bride's music curator. "The artist has more opportunities to exploit a whole range of dynamics, color, texture, arrangement and to really flesh out all there is in a musical composition. A piece of music played by three people will sound a lot different when the same piece is played by 15 people."

XL is so big it's spread out over two years. Featured acts include Odessa to Istanbul, which joins the progressive klezmer group Klingon Klez and the Middle Eastern ensemble Atzilut, both based in Philly; Pirates Troubadours, a 17-piece, horn-heavy band specializing in Afro-Caribbean jazz, led by trombonist Papo Vazquez; the 25-piece Cudamani, presenting Balinese gamelan; and Philip Hamilton's Voices, a 15-member choir merging vocals from a variety of cultures.

With the exception of Cudamani, none of these acts has appeared in the same format as they will for XL. Klingon Klez and Atzilut are joining forces, while Pirates Troubadours and Voices are upsizing for the occasion.

The novelty of it all helped the Painted Bride score an $80,000 grant from Philadelphia Music Project to fund the program. PMP is specifically designed to support adventurous endeavors by nonprofits.

Matt Levy, PMP's director, notes that the series "is sort of a mix when you look at the totality of the programming. It's a nice palette, covering many parts of the world ... and it seemed like the idea was to create new collaborations and that would generate new kinds of work."

Despite the potential for creative music making, Levy acknowledges there are uncertainties when venturing into uncharted territory. "It's always a risk. There are no guarantees," he says. "Whether you're commissioning a composer or organizing a new partnership ... the result is not predictable."

While some artists seem comfortable venturing into the unknown no matter what, others simply can't afford to go out on a limb and venture down new avenues simply for the sake of experimentation. The costs involved in hiring collaborators can be difficult to recoup, because there's no assurance that an untried concept will even find a stage to perform on. Seidman says that's the point of XL: "We give the artist the opportunity to go for potential."

Papo Vasquez was thrilled by the thought of expanding his sound. "He's so full of energy and excitement," Seidman raves. "He usually goes out with a septet. He has done a big band, but I don't think one as big as he's bringing. ... He says he's gonna blow this place apart."

For Odessa to Istanbul the XL invite offers a chance to see what happens when two divergent musical traditions come together in mutual collaboration. Certain members of this concert's crossover ensemble already play for both Atzilut and Klingon Klez, but the majority do not. It's a whole new ball game when all 14 members assemble as a freshly formed supergroup. And while the musicians involved are looking forward to the opportunity to stretch themselves artistically, there are plenty of things to iron out. "One of the challenges involved is working out the kinks between Eastern European music, which is using Western scales, and Arabic classical music, which has different scales, different pitches," says Jack Kessler, who directs, composes and is a vocalist for both Atzilut and Klingon Klez. "So some places where everybody might play what looks like the same note on the page would sound pretty sour. We really have to come up with a way of bridging the scales." On top of that, Odessa to Istanbul's percussion section — whose instruments include the tabla, dumbek, djembe and drum kit — will need to figure out how to smoothly shift between disparate rhythmic patterns.

The sheer size of the group adds yet another dimension. "The more musicians you have, the more complex is the musical signal," Kessler explains. "It's easier for a keyboard, clarinet and drum to play together because each instrument stands out. Here you have five or six melodic players, a keyboard backed up by five drummers, along with two singers, and it becomes a rich complex texture ... but the challenge where there are so many inner voices is to avoid becoming muddy. It's easy to say, 'Let's put more people onstage and it will sound great.' But it doesn't necessarily sound great. It has to be worked out. All these different voices are part of a larger gestalt."

As Kessler notes, there will be rewards as well as challenges for the artists involved. Meanwhile the audience may get something more from this grand experiment, too. "I think the people who come to the Painted Bride are looking for something unusual. Something they may not hear elsewhere. And this will continue that image, by offering something that is not prepackaged," says Seidman.

Clearly, the bottom line is: More is more. "It's not a Zen concept," Seidman asserts. "It's not about distilling down to the essence. This is about abundance."

(d_kasrel@citypaper.net)