Austria - Vienna

 We move onto the capital of Austria, Vienna or Wien. Unfortunately I can't find any pictures as my last visit was back in 1991.  The members of folk quintet Alma are from all over Austria, but got together in Vienna in 2013.  Their mission is to give traditional Alpine folk a contemporary twist finding their roots in jazz and classical music as well as traditional folk from Austria and beyond.  Their music is mostly instrumental with strings and accordion the main instruments.  In 2017 they won the German World Music Award.  Here is a lively tune from their 2017 album Oeo called Hep!

Violinist Angelika Hudler was classically trained, but her passion these days is the folk traditions of Europe.  She has her fingers in a number of different projects including Yeah! But Balkan... (playing Romanian, Serbian and Bulgarian tunes), Sprinkle Blizzard (playing French-style balfolk), Too Bett Violins (a violin duo with her Slovakian flat mate Petra Onderuf, which started during their enforced lockdown recently), Orkester Jovana Povića (another international Balkan ensemble with Serbian accordionist Jovan Pović), as well as playing Swedish and Austrian folk with a number of collaborators.  Another fun project she leads is the Folk Fiddle Ensemble Wien, where anybody regardless of experience can turn up and they play folk together.  If I lived in Vienna, I'd be joining them.  

Oddly, despite being a very busy and accomplished musician, she doesn't actually seem to have released any music on CD, or at least not that I can find, so you're just going to have to go to Vienna to hear her play.  Here's a tune with the Yeah! But Balkan... project called Maneaua Florăreselor:

Viennese Jazz keyboard player and composer Joe Zawinul (1932-2007) has played with some of the jazz greats such as Dinah Washington, Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis.  While those experiences showed him to be one of the most accomplished jazz pianists it was later that he found his own voice after being prompted by Dizzy Gillespie to play his own style.  He went on to form the Weather Report and the Zawinul Syndicate becoming one of the pioneers of jazz fusion, blending jazz improvisation with rock, world music influences (before the latter even became a term), and electronica.  In 1993 he was commissioned to write an orchestral symphony, Stories of the Danube, which musically follows the river Danube from its source in Germany to the Black Sea.  If you have an hour, have a look at the BBC4 documentary dedicated to him:

 Here's a song which features on his 1996 album My People called Erdäpfee Blues (Potato Blues):

Gypsy music project DelaDap (also !DelaDap) was formed around Czech born producer Stani Vana in 2002 in Vienna.  They combine traditional Roma rhythms with Jazz, electronica and pop to create a danceable urban pop music.  Here's the live version of the piece Georgian Lesson, which features on their 2012 album I know What You Want:

Producer, DJ and band leader Ulf Lindemann aka Dunkelbunt was actually born in Hamburg, Germany in 1979, but has based himself in Vienna since 2001, where he is one of the pioneers of electro swing, a fusion of Balkan, Klezmer and Swing.  He has collaborated amongst many others with Romanian gypsy outfit Fanfare Ciocărlia, Boban Markovic, the above mentioned DelaDap, The Amsterdam Klezmer Band, Tori Amos, 17 Hippies and Al Jawala.  Here's a song called Cinnamon Girl, which features on his 2016 Best of Album:

Finally I can't leave Vienna without mentioning Johann 'Hans' Hölzel aka Falco (1957-1998).  He is arguably the most internationally recognised music export from Austria with hits like Rock Me Amedeus, Der Kommissar and Vienna Calling.  His music is described as New Wave and rock.  He sang both in Austrian German and English (often in the same song).  During his life he was haunted by drug abuse and a volatile personality and he tragically died prematurely in a traffic accident in Domenica just as he was planning a comeback tour.  Here is Vienna Calling, which featured on his 1985 album Falco 3:

That's it from Austria, next we'll be heading into Hungary, where we'll spend a bit more time.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual winding way around Europe and the world on my Tripline map.