Over the past few years, across a prolific stream of albums, edits, and outtakes, European acts have developed distinctive sounds by blending different musical styles, and creating something new and exciting.
The idea of cultural purity is demonstrably a myth, as cultural expression can reveal multiple origins that inevitably result from human contact. Fusion music, whatever styles are subsumed under its broad spectrum, first and foremost involves mixture: noticeable and intentional mixture.
These acts help us consider the future of music: how it will be made, how it will shape trends and scenes, and how genre lines are dismantled. But getting to a future of fluid cultural exchange requires reckoning with the past. The trick is to combine musical trends with the “familiar,” enabling the pushing the boundaries of what has been done before, while connecting with their intended demographic. Combined, this heightens their chances of success beyond their physical borders; it has even become a festival trend, since this musical hybrid can also be exciting on stage. So these restless innovators are smashing every genre boundary in order to build something more colorful and unique that fits extremely well with our genre-defying and “everything-goes-with-everything” era.
Ιn Greece, Balkan countries, and Eastern Europe, there are restless musicians constantly innovating, experimenting with traditional and contemporary sounds and building a legacy for themselves and their community. Greek jazz blends with Minor Asia rhythms on Italian radio; Ukrainian pop-folk in a Polish bar; Bulgarian electro-funk showcased by a Bucharest-based production company. For countries once at war or having suffered extreme socio-political turbulence, such musical exchange offers hope for the future of cross-border culture.
Greece is at the crossroad of the East and West, musically as well as physically. Since the 70s, a huge number of acts have been pairing styles, and experimenting with various sounds, starting with jazz. The leading jazz fusion musician in Greece is 95 years old today. Mimis Plessas has an epic catalogue of 111 soundtracks, having covered all genres without exception, using a variety of sounds and styles. The Greek composer Iannis Xenakis was trained as an architect, and later encompassed Greek traditional music, also applying mathematical game theory using the brass instruments’ sound. A whole generation of composers were inspired by the unexpected fusions between Xenakian fragments, classical compositions, and electronic sounds. Kyriakos Sfetsas, an internationally acclaimed composer of symphonic, electronic and jazz music, formed the Greek Fusion Orchestra in 1976, which served as a vehicle for him to push the boundaries of Greek traditional music.
From then on, fusion has proved to be challenging and fun, and has held a transformative power, suggesting that it can become extremely influential. Take for example Mode Plagal, the pioneering contemporary jazz-folk Greek fusion group with a unique approach to traditional music and a signature sound, drawing from rembetiko (the Greek rhythm n’ blues) and the music of the Balkans, Thrace, Asia Minor and all points to the east. The Athens-based musician and producer Blend Mishkin, has been blending rhythms and sounds for many years. His new release, ‘Egyptian Love’ serves up an Arabic jazz-meets-Jamaican-ska sound, sprinkled with a psychedelic vibe and Andalusian modes. Marina Satti is pairing her Greek-Sudanese heritage with her musical background in jazz, and she takes Greek, Balkan and Middle Eastern sounds into fresh territories with gypsy punk, pop and electro vibes. Her latest track, ‘Yiati Pouli M’ (‘Why, my little bird?’) is based on a traditional song with lyrics about losing your roots.
Roots. That’s the key word of fusion music.
There are two principal aspects to consider regarding its application. First, it is already considered both a general and specific term, and its interpretation varies. Second, there is a requirement for fusion’s meaning to be placed in a context, such as cross-influence and polystylism.
The music of Balkan countries, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region is as diverse as the geography it represents. New voices emerge from these countries by preserving valuable traditions whilst enabling the music to evolve in new and unexpected ways. Balkan Taksim is a Romanian project that offers psychedelic fusion of trip-hop electronics and Eastern European folk traditions. Go_A is one of the core groups of the Ukrainian electro folk scene, formed in 2012; and Alina Pash is a 100% Bitanga (ruthenian dialect for ‘hooligan’) who has developed an authentic style, mixing pop, electronica, hip hop and folk. Born in a small Ukrainian village, she was brought up on the basis of archaic Carpathian traditions, which formed her as an independent spirit with deep cultural roots.
And the list seems endless. From the secluded island of Cyprus, Sound of Thieves, offer a laid-back mix of fusion, funk and alt rock; from Portugal, Rosalia and her powerful mix of the most traditional flamenco with trap and R&B fascinates the world. She recently collaborated with experimentalists Oneohtrix Point Never. From Austria, Takeshi’s Cashew explore the boundaries of club culture, 70s psychedelia and world music. From Belgium, Fugu Mango mixpop with an African pulse and ambient music. Priya Ragu, aSwiss-Tamil artist, offers South Indian R&B fusion that feels like a breath of fresh air; Gnučči, the Swedish artist (originally from Yugoslavia) mixes pop, dancehall, electronic and even Balkan rhythms. And Ladaniva is a cheerfully exotic band from Armenia with roots all around the world.
Regardless of how innovating it may be, fusion can also be a tricky business. It can be tempting to do too much, to combine several sounds in a facile way. There’s a thin line between creating a musical hybrid and indulging in shallow cultural tourism. Clarity of vision is absolutely necessary to be able to blend different styles without being discordant. Owning a bevy of brass instruments, synths and a mix of folk and exotic organs is great, but it doesn’t make you multicultural. You need a story to tell. And the world will always look for something new and different.
This feature is part of a new Europavox series on fusion music. Watch this space for more similar explorations.
