Eggplants are not normally associated with jazz, but both the music genre and versatile vegetable have lent their names to the Melitzazz Festival, to be held in the town of Leonidio on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese from Wednesday, July 5 to Sunday, July 9.
The annual festival, now in its twelfth year, is a celebration of music, gastronomy and culture, with a range of events held throughout the town’s squares, restaurants and other spaces. Of the food products promoted during the festival, the star is, of course, the local variety of eggplant (melitzana in Greek) that is native to the region of Tsakonia and which has been recognized with PDO (protected designation of origin) status.
This year’s festival will have a particular focus on the visual arts. In particular the flagship event will be the Greek premiere of “Loving Vincent”, the innovative new film dedicated to the life of Vincent van Gogh. The feature-length film is a startling achievement and a fitting tribute to one of the world’s greatest artists: every single one of its 65,000 frames is an oil painting created by hand in the style pioneered by Vincent van Gogh.
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Loving Vincent
Written and directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, the movie was first shot as a live action feature. Subsequently 125 artists from all over the world working in three studios in Greece and Poland took on the painstaking work of recreating each frame by hand as an oil painting.
The result, as can be seen in the trailer (top), is a unique interplay between the actors’ performances and their literal conversion into oil paintings. In his first major movie role, actor Robert Gulaczyk takes on the role of van Gogh himself. The cast also includes Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan together with Douglas Booth, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jerome Flynn, Chris O’Dowd, John Sessions, Aidan Turner and Helen McCrory.
Aside from watching Loving Vincent on the big screen, attendees will also be able to attend a host of parallel events and workshops inspired by the film. At the event “Loving Vincent: from Script to Screen” artists who worked on the film will perform live demonstrations of the techniques used at a dedicated Painting Animation Work Station (PAWS).
Organizers also say that the town will be converted into an ‘open air studio’ for the Melitzazz Festival, with artists creating and displaying their work on streets and in squares. Children’s workshops will also allow the festival’s younger attendees the opportunity to get creative themselves.
Vincent van Gogh meets Nestor Varveris
The festival will also seek to draw parallels between the work of van Gogh and Nestor Varveris, an 18th century deaf-mute painter who lived and worked in Leonidio and who achieved recognition following his death (some of his paintings now hang in the Louvre). Special exhibitions of Varveris’ paintings will pay tribute to his works that masterfully capture the light and colors of Leonidio.
Let the Music Play
Throughout the festival there will also be plenty of concerts and music, with performances from a wide range of groups playing everything from jazz and swing classics to rebetika (aka the Greek blues), reggae, traditional Greek music and more.
Among the artists to perform are:
Opera Chaotique
Formed by Tenorman (aka George Tziouvaras) and Voodoo Drummer (aka Chris Koutsogiannis), Opera Chaotique have a unique music style that has developed a growing cult following across Europe. The band has toured extensively in Europe and beyond, performing in a wide range of venues: from theatres to Goth clubs, and Jazz bars to Rock festivals.
Some of their most recent appearances include venues such as Stuttgart’s Theaterhaus, Berlin’s White Trash & Lido , Barcelona’s Harlem Jazz Club and festivals like as UK’s Secret Garden Party, Spain’s MPB and Athens’ Rockwave.
Diminuita “Le Petit Big Band”
Among the first to play swing and gypsy jazz in Greece, performing since 2007, the Diminuita trio developed into an 8-member “petit big band” in 2015. The perform music inspired by Django Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz as well as classics by the likes of Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday.
Papadogiannis & Efi Sarantis “From Marko to Xioti”
A duo that has been performing Greek rebetika music for over 20 years, they have appeared at venues in Greece and abroad, in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
For a full list of artists and more information visit the Melitzazz festival‘s website here. And below is a map of all of the events planned for Melitzazz 2017.
