Having been strongly influenced by her British and Greek Cypriot lineage, singer/songwriter, Martha Lewis, was driven to fuse the polyphonic eastern Mediterranean folk and blues with more urgent rhythm and syncopation derived from western popular music, inevitably resulting in the formation of Café Aman, a band which – after being featured on BBC Radio 3 – has enhanced the international festival and dance circuit for over a decade.
The resonant acoustic of St. John's Chapel has again played a strong part in the Festivities, extracting a vibrant musical response from this five-piece group, comprising electronic keyboards, cello, bass guitar, Greek percussion and strings – bouzou
ki and tsoura – and an extensive drum-kit, all relayed courtesy of a sophisticated sound system. Café Aman introduced Martha Lewis to the scene with a low-pitched keyboard drone, so very common to the Mediterranean region – a sound which then became much more intensely rhythmic as her emotive voice, rocking bass and percussion took command. Although adopted as their normal technique, this imaginative blend was often replaced by the rather more traditional combination of cello, bouzouki and keyboard, Martha herself adding rhythm with Greek hand-drum.
As twilight invaded the scene, Martha and her group veered towards "rembetiko", a time-honoured form of Greek blues and a valid genre of world music, which – as she whispered during her preamble – "was normally played in the dark". This was the signal for a completely new sonic dimension, when two voices – Martha now being joined by her co-singer, Eve Polycarpou, still recovering from a major operation – combined flawlessly in a wildly passionate fusion of urban groove, pounding jazz rhythm and Greek night songs!
John Wheatley
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