DeutschIncense of Music 49
Dhalgren in Duo — Songs from a Dystopian Utopia
A multisensory concert – Friday, 30 May 2020, 8 pm
Chris Dahlgren: vocals, guitar, viola da gamba, composition
Evi Filippou: voice, vibraphone, drums
Incense: Laurel
Streaming from PANDA Theater in der Kulturbrauerei, Knaackstr. 97, 10435 Berlin
The virus brings new challenges: no audience at the concerts, video and audio streaming instead of the live experience. But how does it work with scents and incense in the virtual world? We're finding out.
Chris Dahlgren (voice, guitar, viola da gamba, baglama) and Evi Filippou (voice, vibraphone, drums) performed songs from the new album "Songs From A Dystopian Utopia" in a live simulcast from PANDA Theater. Normally performing as a four- or five-piece band, in this reduced duo formation Dahlgren and Filippou dig into the intimate corners and landscapes of Dahlgren's songs, which are truly cross-genre and impossible to categorize.
The album is a suite about dystopias and utopias, about abysses and unexplored corners of the self — and at the same time an album about Berlin. Dahlgren was influenced by older science fiction works such as Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and the novels of brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Music journalist Wolf Kampmann described the album as a descent from Berlin's nocturnal surface into a darker, subterranean world full of cobwebs and hidden beauty — ultimately more utopia than dystopia.
Artists
Chris Dahlgren — vocals, guitar, viola da gamba, composition
Chris Dahlgren (b. 1961 in New York City) is an American jazz bassist and polyinstrumentalist. Dahlgren, who grew up in Denver, played the cello as a child before switching to the bass. He studied jazz at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music until 1986 and composition and experimental music at Wesleyan University until 2003, studying with Anthony Braxton, Alvin Lucier, and Christian Wolff. He performed as a sideman with musicians such as Joe Lovano, Charles Tolliver, and Herb Ellis. In Berlin he quickly became a creative driving force in the scene, including in the bands Johnny La Marama and Lexicon, as well as alongside Gebhard Ullmann. He later moved increasingly toward songwriting, singing, and guitar, founding the band Dhalgren, named after Samuel Delany's dystopian novel of the same name. Since 2003, he has been teaching ensemble playing at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin.
Evi Filippou — voice, vibraphone, drums
Evi Filippou is a vibraphonist and percussionist with experience in chamber music as well. As a member of the band Dhalgren, she contributed to their second album, "Songs From A Dystopian Utopia" (2020), released on Boomslang Records.
Incense
Bay laurel is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Mediterranean, capable of reaching up to ten metres in height. Its glossy, leathery dark-green leaves carry a bold, spicy aroma and contain essential oils with anti-inflammatory properties.
In ancient Greece, laurel was sacred to the god Apollo, and wreaths woven from its branches crowned the victors of athletic and poetic competitions — a tradition that still echoes today in the word "baccalaureate" (literally, "laurel berry"). In the Bible, laurel is often an emblem of prosperity and fame, and in Christian tradition it symbolizes the resurrection of Christ.
Burned as incense, laurel gives off a warm, spicy-resinous scent with a faint, sweet sharpness. The dried leaves are traditionally burned to energetically clear a space and create a focused, ceremonial atmosphere — a scent associated with clarity and a certain sense of dignity.