Zuza Jasińska – vocals
Keisuke Matsuno – guitar
Robert Lucaciu – bass
Arne Braun – guitar
Jim Hart – drums
Evi Filippou – vibraphone, drums, vocals
She is a virtuoso on the vibraphone and a variety of percussion instruments, but that only tells half the story. Filippou is also a stage artist of great sophistication. She stages her pieces using whatever her luggage has to offer—opulently, with humor, and with obvious delight in performing.
Their music draws on folk and traditions from around the world as well as Berlin’s experimental scene. In the world of inEvitable, tradition and innovation are not opposites; they intertwine at the core of human experience. What happens when traditions encounter one another not as fixed cultural identities, but as living, ever-changing forms that enter into dialogue with one another? Is this dystopian cabaret or a journey into the eternally unanswered questions of existence?
There is a reason Filippou is asking these questions now. At a time when the far right is gaining strength and culture is increasingly being used to categorize people by borders, origin, and class, rethinking tradition is, for her, an act of compassion. She hopes that sharing the experience of this unique, global folk music will give rise to an open community.
“I want this music to remind us that our differences don’t prevent us from sharing fundamental experiences, questions, and feelings. And that we have a responsibility to keep fighting for a world in which we remain connected, curious, and there for one another.”
Evi Filippou
Evi Filippou’s Inevitable Extended surprised audiences with its bizarre fusion of styles, as the Berlin vibraphonist enjoys her year in Moers as Improviser in Residence. She blended jazz cabaret, Zornian dissonance, and Ruth Underwood’s Zappa-esque elements, yet created a final piece that possessed its own unique substance. This is fast-paced minimalism veering into art-rock, with tenor sax, clarinet, and guitars closely intertwined, accompanied by Greek-style folk-inspired vocals. A sudden burst of headbanging highlighted a strange blend of styles—subversive through its perverse take on jazz cabaret—that spilled over into a group percussion workout. (Martin Longley, Jazzwise)
The performance by Evi Filippou’s group “inEvitable extended” at the Moers Festival was a highlight. The Improvisers in Residence impressively demonstrated why their selection was a stroke of luck: a rousing concert, full of variety, featuring a leader who whirled between the vibraphone and drums and also shone as a vocalist. (Frank Schindelbeck, The Jazz Pages)
