Local electronic artist George Sarah enjoyed a residency at West L.A.’s The Mint on Thursdays in the month of July. Playing late on weekdays are a tough ordeal, but following after a diverse collection of bands regardless of genre, Sarah and his string trio took to the challenge with professionalism as well as a sense of fun. On the night of the 19th George turned his keyboards towards the audience and played with more emotion while the string trio dug into their parts, improvising and adding much needed humanity into Sarah’s moodier numbers. Sarah’s set bounced back and forth between ambient orchestral arrangements such as KCRW listeners’ favorite Dusk and his more uptempo dance tracks such as Eyes and Goodbyes. The songs suffered a bit from the absence of the vocals that are included on his demos but the Mint audience took it all in and the focus moved over to the violin, cello and viola as the voices of the songs. Throughout, Sarah played strings on his keyboards and triggered beats with quiet intensity letting the players enjoy their parts. To close his third night at the Mint George Sarah and band treated those of us smart enough to stay until midnight with a live performance of his F-111 single Drag Ass. The driving beats and tasteful strings combined perfectly and made me wish I were at a dance club and not a sit down nightclub. George Sarah has a bright future ahead of him with and without his string trio. Here’s to seeing him signed and touring clubs all over the world. He’s already had a career as hardcore dance producer T.H.C. but this is more mature music, sure to reach a wider audience. Catch him at one of his many club dates while you can, you’re sure to have a great time.