Shows keep anemic scene alive
Though the concert activity of the country’s contemporary circuit has, like most other sectors of the economy, felt the negative aftermath of the September 11 attacks – as underscored by the string of cancellations by foreign acts still nervous about going on tour – some worthwhile events which continue to trickle through are keeping the anemic scene alive. Some foreign acts expected to perform here in the coming weeks and months include the critically acclaimed New Yorkers Mercury Rev, the aging German jazz experimentalist Gunter «Baby» Sommer, the appealing American alternative-country band Lambchop, and the poignant Australian songwriter Louis Tillett. Along with local talent that is out and about, the scene may not be thriving, but there still is something there for the avid concertgoer to take in. Revving it up Back after a spectacular performance here three years ago, at the time of their breakthrough «Deserter’s Songs» album, the creative, critically acclaimed New York-based rock act Mercury Rev will be returning for two nights – at the Mylos Club in Thessaloniki (Mylos, 56 Andreou Georgiou, 0310.525.968) on April 25 and the Rodon Club in Athens (24 Marnis, 010.523.7418) the following night. Formed back in the 1980s, initially as a musical project to provide soundtracks for experimental films made by the band’s members and various friends, Mercury Rev’s sound has changed drastically over the years. These days, without their starting lineup’s singer, David Baker, a wayward figure who had spent about a decade with the band before departing at a time when breakup rumors were rife, Mercury Rev have swept aside the distorted chaos of their early work for more articulate, multilayered, strings-embellished material in recent years. The band will be coming to Greece as part of an ongoing world tour backed by last year’s «All is Dream» album, its latest highly praised release in search of broader musical horizons. A leading exponent on Europe’s experimental jazz scene, the 74-year-old Gunter «Baby» Sommer, who is renowned for both his playing ability and a unique, self-constructed percussion set which he takes with him on tour, has been booked for two nights, March 30 and 31, at the Mikro Mousiko Theatro in the capital’s Koukaki district (33 Veikou, 010.924.5644). He will be accompanied by two accomplished local artists, Floros Floridis, one of the country’s most established improvisers, on saxophone and clarinet, the first night, and the vocalist Savina Yiannatou, whose emphasis on improvisation has increased in recent years, the following evening. Sommer, who played a key role in the development of the former East Germany’s jazz scene during the 1960s, turned to free jazz and improvisation the following decade. For one of his most recent projects, Sommer teamed up with his compatriot, no less than the writer Gunter Grass, 1999’s Nobel Prize winner in literature, to provide an improvised musical backdrop for a CD of readings by the writer, the first of a prospective series. Sommer has performed here several times in the past with Floridis, fellow percussionist Nikos Touliatos, Peter Kowald, and more recently at the annual summer percussion festival on the Ionian island of Lefkada. An innovative act made up of talented players, Happy Dog is currently recording its debut album for a local independent label Rubber Records, while also playing sporadically at small venues around the capital. The group will play at the Mikro Mousiko Theatro this Friday. Formed two years ago, the band started off as a purely jazz-funk venture, but the recent addition to its lineup of a DJ, who injects a variety of modern elements into the band’s instrumental material, has expanded Happy Dog’s style into an innovative dance-oriented musical smorgasbord. Following their supportive slot at the venue for a recent show by the Spaceheads – also known as Two Pale Boys, or the wayward backing band of American fringe rock guru Dave Thomas, frontman of indie rock pioneers Pere Ubu – the local trio Paradox will be returning to the Mikro Mousiko Theatro, this time, this Sunday, as the main act. The trio also weaves loops, samples, and free jazz elements into a dance-oriented cocktail. The accomplished local cellist Nikos Veliotis, who, in addition to his regular role in the Athens-based Orchestra of Colors, has been pursuing more experimental improvisational playing, both on his own and with countless collaborators, Greek and foreign, will play a solo multimedia performance – solo cello and video – at the Thiseion Theater in Athens (7 Tournavitou, Psyrri) on April 1. Veliotis will execute works written especially for the Bach-Bogen – a bow that bends and slackens, enabling polyphonic playing on the cello’s four strings – by a range of artists. The bow, which was invented by the German cellist Michael Bach, has been used by important 20th-century experimentalists, such as John Cage and Dieter Schnebel. Entrance for Veliotis’s show will be free. The cellist has also been scheduled to play with the compelling Australian songwriter Louis Tillett at the Mikro Mousiko Theatro on April 20. Tillett, a frequent visitor to Greece over the past decade, who was first introduced to Greek audiences by compatriot Nick Cave as his support act at a Lycabettus Theater show, played a couple of impromptu shows at the intimate Koukaki venue a year ago to cap off a European tour before flying home. The Sydney-based artist, who had a strong impact in the late 1980s with his stunningly brilliant debut album «Egotripping at the Gates of Hell,» an exhilarating blend of rock, jazz and blues, resurfaced last year with «Learning to Die,» his seventh release. He has also rendered more hypnotic, beautifully somber work, such as 1992’s «Letters to a Dream,» an album of dark, poignant melodies and mind-excavating lyrics based on diary entries. Pioneering Beta On the same night, Constantinos Beta, the former frontman of the pioneering early-1990s Greek electronica act Stereo Nova, who has pursued a worthwhile solo career since that band’s demise, will be unveiling new material at the Rodon Club in Athens. Beta, who released five albums with Stereo Nova, has remained an active composer in solo work, collaborations with vocalists, film and theater. Later in the spring, on May 18, the engaging American alternative-country band Lambchop, touted by its label as «Nashville’s most fxxxxx-up country band,» will be making its first visit here. The event’s promoter, however, has not yet announced the concert’s venue.
