Iva Bittová & Bang on a Can All-Stars

The captivating Czech vocal artist and violinist Iva Bittová has been collaborating regularly for several years with the cheerfully alternative, rocking shambles that is the Bang on a Can All Stars. The result is staggeringly original: Bittová's mixture of central European folk music, classical mezzo, vocal acrobatics and avant-garde goes together wonderfully with the intensity, improvisation and concentration of the All Stars. This versatile New York sextet is able to turn its hand to many musical styles and on the CD 'Elida', which they recorded together with Bittová, they sound like a fully-accomplished nightclub combo. Bittová's Czech poetry sounds on the one hand as if it is sung by a foreign chanteuse and, on the other, like a snigger, giggle and groan. But there is always that emotion which she effortlessly conveys to her fellow musicians and to the concert audience. In the first part of the concert, the Bang on a Can All Stars perform a selection of recent numbers from their standard repertoire. This of course includes work by the co-founders of the group, the composers David Lang and Julia Wolfe. Anyone who has heard the All Stars' CD with jazz composer Don Byron will know that his work cannot be left out. In order to complete the crossover, there is also a number by Thurston Moore, the singer-guitarist from Sonic Youth.