Trio uncompromising in its instrumentation

The String Trio of New York, which performed Saturday at the Maine Center for the Arts, plays instruments that are well enough known. Violin. Guitar. Bass. However, the musicians — Regina Carter, James Emery and John Lindberg — can leave a listener dumbstruck with their uncanny approach to these familiar instruments.

But that’s a good thing.

The String Trio is uncompromising in its repertoire of nearly pyrotechnic music from the chamber jazz idiom, which twists and turns through the more traditional forms of jazz and ends up in a wild zone of quirky sounds and provocative riffs. And those who didn’t walk out on Saturday’s concert were treated to an amazing set of musicians performing music that entertains, contorts, accosts and irritates.

But that’s a good thing, too.

The String Trio does something few small ensembles on the fringe can do: It makes a successful career out of playing music that most people don’t understand, like or desire. It’s true that the trio didn’t draw a large crowd in Orono, and people began walking out of the show after the first number.

Still, the acoustic improvisations of this group were truly the work of talented performers. In fact, Carter, Emery and Lindberg may be among the most capable, daring and memorable of American musicians to perform in that venue. They played several of their own original works for which the rhythms were mind-bogglingly complicated and the technique was glistening. It may not be particularly normal to play a guitar, violin and bass with a drumstick, or to skid, plink, beat and pop the strings, as the performers did — sometimes leaving significant moments of silence. But the String Trio, in a wave of good-humor and serious musicianship, is a group that asks its patrons to stretch, and that’s not always fun or comforting.

Even when the group offered a homage to Duke Ellington, the outcome was close to unrecognizable. “That’s Ellington,” one man was overheard saying to his date. “It IS?” she replied.

The most accessible part of the evening was a tribute to jazz great Thelonious Monk and an encore of music by Charles Mingus.

Guest performer composer-pianist Anthony Davis joined the musicians for “Sounds Without Nouns” (which the Maine Center co-commissioned last year with several other performing arts centers). Davis also played a wearisome 20-minute piano solo, “Wayang Number 4,” the completion of which, many agreed, was another good thing about this concert.