Cafe Aman - Performance Reviews

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"The nine-piece Cafe Aman is Lewis's first solo venture and the biggest show she has so far connected the distinctly live wire of her musical independence and formidable voice to. She makes a point of telling the audience that the repertoire isn't going to be purist's rebetike, the music of Greek refuges of the 1920s. Though the band's name is taken from venues traditionally associated with this forcefully romantic and politically critical idiom, one glance at Nic France's drum kit and the trio of electric cellos and violins makes the point for her.

"The repertoire is bold and wide ranging, from traditional Greek romantic laments (Lewis has a yearning to upturn her voice to go with its majestic and clamourous power), to quiet and jazzy ballads, to leaping dance pieces in which Karen Street's accordion threads a liquid melody through the choppy chordwork of the strings, to percussion features in which Lewis's sonoroud and headlong hand-drums meshed eloquently with France's orthodox kit.

"Apart from the leader, the soloing didn't altogether take off the way the vibrant, eager ensemble pieces did, but Anne Wood quickened some pulses with a wailing violin solo in the later stages of a taut ninety-minute set, and Karen Street -- as she often indicates with the folk-jazz band Lammas -- has both the sensitivity to enhance her surroundings, and the imaginative energy to occasionally dominate them.

"Far from just another chunk of culture-hopping opportunism, Cafe Aman -- like pianist Alex Wilson's Afro-Saxon project -- is a unique cultural crossover driven by a charismatic leader, that is as much about changing London as it is about traditional roots, and that burns a volatile fuel of European folk-music, 90s technology and pop influences, jazz improvisation, and a collective respect and sense of space between its members. I could use hearing a more sharply distinct instrumental voice in it, maybe a good jazz horn player -- as a tonal contrast, and maybe to explore the idiomatic tension between the west and the east. But Cafe Aman is going places."
John Fordam in The Guardian

"Held together by the passionate. almost eerie vocals of songstress Martha Lewis, this nine-piece orchestra fuses ancient Byzantine sounds with modern jazz rhystms and it turns out to be a compelling melange." Evening Standard

"... an infectious collision between rembetika, tango and soul." Guardian Guide

"... excellent ..." BBC GLR

"... the extraordinary visionary sound and sheer virtuosity of all the musicians ..." Komedia Brighton

"Lewis has created music with a full, rich texture which wraps the audience in sound without suffocating, allowing each instrument the space to breathe and perform ... the compositions are sung in Greek serving to treat the vocals as an additional instrument ...
From the wailing, mournful lament of 'Se thelo' (I want you) with its intricate melody and counter-melody duels between the performersto 'All of us' with its repeated figures and sequences offset by Arabic influenced violin solo ...
Here world music collides with the 'Dark Side of the Moon' era Pink Floyd. Powerful drums and mantra-like vocal delivery, highlight the feeling of spirituality which influences the pieces ... Matt Armitage Absolute World

"What a night! It was a fusion night whose sound has yet to be classified in one neat, wrap it all word. ... An eeriness filled the concert hall as the band generated almost Byzantine ambience which gradually emerged with lush string, accordion, acoustic guitars and forceful percussion." James Pappanicolaou Parikiaki

"This is intelligent and original music springing from the very heart of 90s cosmopolitan London." Channel 4

"Martha Lewis' Cafe Aman project marries the urban blues of the cafes of Athens in the 1920s with other musics. Martha grew up in London and in Cyprus and her dance-friendly world music takes in tango, classical music and Greek rhythms. The instrumentation of her band includes cellos, violin and street accordion which provides a nostalgic and lyrical background to her striking vocal lead."
Stephen Graham Jazz Mag