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In the spirit
Alternativa keeps up a proud musical tradition
For The Prague Post 25th November, 2004 For the 12th year running, Unijazz has organized a festival true to the original spirit of the alternative-music movement. Over 10 days, more than 30 acts will share the stage, with performers coming from Asia, Africa, North America and the UK, as well as Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia. The music encompasses reggae, industrial, metal and electronica. Emerging variants of laptop-singer-songwriters, high-octane DJs and even puppet theater have been added to the mix. Unleashed from corporate limitations and categories by independent-minded '60s jazz pioneers and '70s punk rockers, the international alternative scene erupted with a tidal wave of inventive musical energy. Initially alternative music enveloped every possible variation of punk, garage rock, funk, metal, psychedelia, improvisational jazz and minimalism. R.E.M., Pearl Jam, New Order, Pere Ubu and Nick Cave all have alternative roots. In what was then Czechoslovakia, Micholas Chadima's MCH Band and Pavel Richter's Zappa-influenced Electrobus were products of the late-'70s alternative scene. "We are musical companions of the same generation," Chadima says of Richter, with whom he has been performing as an ambient/electric guitar duo since their debut concert together at Alternativa in 2002. They will be playing together at Kastan Dec. 1.
The opening night of this year's festival at Archa Theater will be a treat for Rasta fans, with London mixmasters Dub Syndicate bringing their world-famous reggae rhythms and rhymes. Opening for Dub Syndicate will be the Afro-Czech ensemble Hypnotix, headed by dub-poet Bourama Badji. The lengthy '70s disco suites of Donna Summer and Georgio Moroder that became a model for much of the Chicago and Detroit house music of the '80s and '90s are being reprised by Jason Forrest, a New York City DJ and audio plunderer who has changed his name to Donna Summer. Tracks from his latest CD release, The Unrelenting Songs of the 1979 Post Disco Crash, indicate a DJ who "rides" discs, beating samples into places other DJs have yet to go. Other electronic sounds at this year's festival include the analog oscillations of Germany's Kapital Band and the nuanced laptop journeys of Japan's Yoshihiro Hanno and Vienna's Peter Szely. If planet earth remains your musical domain, Prague's own Tam-Tam Orchestra will get you on the dance floor with its Afro-Brazilian-Cuban-influenced rhythms. Or if you're more acoustically inclined, try the Austrian/Zimbabwean project Mbirations or Daau from Belgium. Mbirations shapes its sound around the mbira, a small hand-held instrument sometimes called a thumb piano. Africa is typically associated with drums and rhythm, but the mbira expresses the African genius for melody as well. Mbirations combines the mbira with sultry horns and atmospheric sounds, creating a fresh alternative to what is now called "world beat." Daau's live strings and wind instruments wander back and forth across the frontiers of modern classical and pop music. If you're feeling truly inspired by the alternative spirit, this year's festival also offers you a chance to learn how to create your own electronic sounds using your computer. The "Software as a Musical Instrument" workshop will demonstrate an array of music-making electronic software tools. The workshop will be followed by a computer music software jam session. That's only the surface of this wide-ranging festival, which offers a wealth of enjoyable and often surprising music. Whatever your musical tastes, you'll find something to delight your ears and open your mind.
Darrell Jonsson can be reached at
features@praguepost.com
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