Time For Three: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Pigeonholing the classically trained string trio Time for Three isn t easy, but that s also a blessing. The musicians violinists Zachary De Pue and Nick Kendall with double bassist Ranaan Meyer say they love a kaleidoscopic spectrum of music. If we like it, we play it is their motto. That s why you ll find them riffing on Daft Punk and Kanye West in their popular antibullying video or blending Bach and Bon Iver at a Macy s. Their own compositions tend to swing wildly among pop, bluegrass and jazz. Meyer, De Pue and Kendall don t act like your average classical conservatory grads (they met at the esteemed Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia). They come off as just three highspirited dudes in a band a classically trained garage band, as they like to say. But they certainly don t play like it. Watching them weave together the colorful strands of their music, as they huddle behind Bob Boilen s desk, it s hard not to be swept up in the force of their staggering technique and contagious energy.