Leave the winter blahs behind and get a taste of joyful and exotic music when Oktopus performs at the Golden Civic Centre on Thursday, Feb. 23.
The community welcomed the exuberance and fantastic musicianship of the players from the award winning Montreal group in the summer of 2019 and have been waiting for them to return with their fun and spirited playing ever since.
Founded in 2010, award-winning Oktopus is one of Canada’s greatest purveyors of Eastern European music. Although they feature primarily a combination of Ashkenazi-flavoured klezmer and the exotic rhythms and harmonies of the Balkans, this ebullient, technically brilliant octet also performs traditional Québécois music, as well as pieces by several classical composers such as Bartok, Brahms, and Prokofiev, especially their works derived from folk themes.
As a result, this virtuosic and hard-working band occupies a unique and very multicultural spot on Canada’s musical landscape. Although their live performances invariably have audiences dancing for sheer joy, the band’s recorded output is also hailed by fans and critics alike. They recorded their third album, Créature, last year and it was nominated for “Best Instrumental Music Group” at the Canadian Folk Music Awards as well as earning an “Album of the Year: World Music” nomination for an Opus Prize. Their second album, Hapax, was nominated for a Juno in 2017 in the Instrumental Album of the Year category.
With a wide array of instruments ranging from guitars, fiddles and accordions, and a variety of horns, flutes, and percussion, Oktopus performances become an effervescent, ever-shifting musical travelogue that transports audiences back in time and across many European borders.
Deeply soulful, occasionally melancholic, and yet irresistibly exuberant, this one-of-a-kind band occasionally complements their bittersweet traditional repertoire with spirited and inventive originals.
Called “an absolute blast” by RateYourMusic, this high-energy group guarantees to banish the blues with their uninhibited and joy-filled sound.
Tickets are available at the Art Gallery of Golden or call 250-344-6186. Prices include: Members – “Early Bird 50” $15, regular advance $20, students $5 or $25 at the door.
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