- country:Germany
- style(s):World, Cabaret
- label:Hipster Records
- type:Big Band
- gender:male, female
- instrumentation:vocal, percussion, string, woodwind, brass, singer songwriter, guitar
- artist posted by:Access All Areas
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Berlin has emerged as one of the great contemporary melting pots and 17 Hippies are surely the finest of Berlin band of the moment. They aren't hippies and there is only (!) 13 of them in their current line-up - double bass, banjo, ukulele and guitar give the rhythmic base, the melodious pattern is supplied by violins, cello, accordion, clarinet trombone and trumpet and there's not a single piece of percussion in sight.
No one really knows why exactly seventeen or why even hippies. But having a name is good, like a road sign announcing a town - it tells you where you are. No one has any idea what's coming up after the town sign, nor has anyone worked out what they were supposed to be doing or even where the 17 HIPPIES are heading.
We know for sure though that they have created a unique musical style, by colliding a variety of mostly European influences, from Gypsy dance to French chanson and German cabaret, with just a hint of anything from ragtime to country to early pop. From Algiers to Albuquerque, Berlin to Bloomington and Canton to Cantabria the unstoppable 17 Hippies bandwagon rolls on relentlessly, leaving crowds breathless but still wanting more.