WOMAD

17 Hippies

From Germany

Since 1995 the 17 HIPPIES have been playing their whirling, crashing, diving, bobbing and weaving mixture of music from around the world, all over Europe … and beyond.
Their energetic music is the distillation of many genres. The musicians' musical backgrounds reveal influences from rock-pop to classical and jazz, and is reflected in the instruments they play: accordion, trombone, trumpet, violin, cello, woodwinds, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, Irish bouzouki, guitar, double bass, Indian harmonium and more …
Starting off by "making music just for leisure & pleasure", passing through the stage of "a hobby out of control", the band mutated into an ensemble - now numbering 13 musicians - which displays a vast range of musical creativity, ranging from their French radio hit »Marlène«, to the soundtrack for the award-winning movie HALBE TREPPE by Andreas Dresen (Silver Bear, Berlin Film Festival); from a project called SEXY AMBIENT HIPPIES involving DJs, to a project called 17 HIPPIES PLAY GUITAR featuring New York guitarist Marc Ribot. Not to forget a joint venture CD called HARDCORE TROBADORS with the notorious LES HURLEMENTS d'LÉO from Bordeaux, theatre music for Japan's famed ISSEY OGATA in Tokyo, collaborations with BOOM PAM from Tel Aviv, Johnny Kalsi from London, and the DEUTSCHES THEATER back home in Berlin.
All in all, 17 HIPPIES have played more than 1.500 live concerts, all over Germany, France, the US, Canada, Spain, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Greece, Algeria, China and Japan.
Their last CD HEIMLICH (meaning something in-between "top secret" and "secretively") was released in 2007. Soul-searching stories from the heart, reaching from "being in love" to being left. From the oddities of life to the exclusions of death. The magic of the 17 HIPPIES: Their ability to celebrate a party with the melancholy depth and sadness that together creates the extraordinary … like that … just like life.
(Biography supplied by artist management-2009)
www.17hippies.com
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