Charlie Lindner, pianist for the band The Pickle Mafia, describes their music as "arena fusion jazz" that takes inspiration from electronic dance music.
The trio is based in Rochester, New York, but are on a short four-day Midwestern tour with one stop at the Alluvion in Traverse City.
They're playing Thursday July 31 at 7:30 p.m.
"We survived the pandemic by selling pickles. That's one of the reasons we are called The Pickle Mafia."CHARLIE LINDNER | The Pickle Mafia
"[The show] can be theatrical at times. It has very high points, it has very loud points, and then very, very quiet points," Linder explained. "It's definitely not your typical jazz show."
They started the band in May 2019, but had to stop performing less than a year after because of the pandemic.
"We survived the pandemic by selling pickles," said Linder. "That's one of the reasons we are called The Pickle Mafia."
"It was a huge operation," he said. They did all their business over Facebook, selling $10 jars of "garlic dills ... spicy garlic dills ... mango habanero ... They were really high end, gourmet pickles. I have a killer recipe that I've worked on since 2016."
When gigs opened back up again, it got too hard to manage the pickle business and the band, so he closed down the pickle factory and went back to booking shows.
At their show at the Alluvion next week, Traverse City's own band wtrbd will be opening.
