Jazz-fusion quartet Schleigho is looking forward to returning to State College tonight, when they grace the stage at The Brewery for the second time this semester.

"There's a great vibe. It's a crazy town," Suke Cerulo, guitarist and flautist, said of State College. "We've kind of seen a whole generation go by."

Schleigho has been around since 1993, and since then has played at Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave., and Crowbar,
420 E. College Ave., in addition
to The Brewery, 233 E. Beaver Ave.

The original members of the band met in 1993 while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston.

They began playing and were initially more rock-oriented and included vocals in their songs, Cerulo said. But by 1996, they began to change their sound.

"We were jazz musicians from the get-go, and we wanted to
get back to our origins," Cerulo said.

Today, the group is producing a purely instrumental sound that combines jazz and funk, and is creatively composed.

Their sound has been compared to that of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters and John Scofield and draws influences from the music of John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter and Pat Martino.

Current members Suke Cerulo, Jesse Gibbon (organ and piano), Paco Mahone (bass guitar and upright) and Eric Egol (drums) are touring the East Coast throughout this year and will be coming out with a new album early next year.

The group enjoys recording because it gives them a chance to produce a slightly new style with each record.

"We want to portray ourselves in that moment," Cerulo said. "We try to catch new and exciting things fresh on tape. We don't want to sound too contrived, or like we're making the music complicated for the sake of making it complicated."

Cerulo described himself as a "total gear head" who loves technology and recording, but also said the group loves touring. He said once the group gets into tour mode, the momentum picks up, and the members have the energy to be creative and fresh night after night.

In addition to Schleigho, the members of the band each have side projects going on. Cerulo said that after the Sept. 11, 2001, disaster, the touring scene took a nosedive, and the group decided to engage in other projects while keeping Schleigho their priority.

"It's sort of like dating other people," Cerulo said with a chuckle. He said he thinks that the side projects help the band because they're each able to come back to the group as different people with different ideas and experiences that they can contribute.

Staff at The Brewery looks forward to having Schleigho back again.

"People liked their sound and we thought we'd bring them back and give them their own show and see what they can do on their own," said Ray Rockey, manager of The Brewery.

Schleigho will be playing tonight at The Brewery. Doors open at 8 p.m. and tickets are $7.