ZRI describe themselves as a Viennese tavern band and
when I first saw them they were producing an exhilarating take on Brahms and
the gypsy music from which he took so much inspiration. He was a regular
drinker and listener at a Viennese tavern called The Red Hedgehog (Zum Roten
Igel…) where he immersed himself in the music of tavern bands, inspired to
compose his Hungarian Dances and much more.
These ‘Gypsy’ bands were diverse included Jews, Greeks
and Russians as well as Hungarian Roma, they might even have included the odd tramp
or two. Which may or may not have any bearing on the latest step in their
evolution, they may well have rushed off to play an evening of Schubert in
Stoke Newington but this afternoon they were attempting something completely
new: accompanying a silent without a safety net for the first time.
These are all superlative musicians, classically-trained
and disciplined, yet also capable of extemporisation and improvisation the two
do not always go hand in hand. Matching wits against Charlie Chaplin at his
most mercurial in The Adventurer, is
probably not the safest place to start but it’s what Brahms (probably) would have wanted
had he (somehow) been given the choice.
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| Henry Bergman, Marta Golden, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell and Charlie Chaplin |
ZRI seem to feed off each other as much as their notation
and adding a sixth member to the dynamic allowed them to add an extra dimension
and, not only were the group watching the film as they played they were also laughing
– especially Iris Pissaride who soldiered on with the santouri through every smile.
As accordionist Jon Banks said afterwards, even though you know what’s coming
it’s still funny and the band are more than tight enough to roll with every
unexpected plop of ice cream, kick and pratfall.
The score was a mix of Charlie-contemporary flavours from Limehouse Blues, Brother Can You Spare a
Dime (sung so expressively by cellist and multi-tasker extraordinaire Matthew
Sharp) to a final acapella version of Chaplin’s Smile which moistened many a watching eye. There were also more “classical”
pieces with rip-roaring escalations of Ben Harlan’s clarinet and Max Baillie’s violin
which are trademark ZRI, bringing “the gypsy” out from the more ordered settings
of Brahms and others.
They split the film into four parts, freezing the action
and playing “interludes” which may be sacrilege for some, but it worked as the
tone was maintained and quite clearly the players were enjoying themselves.
 |
| Edna Purviance, Marta Golden and Charlie Chaplin |
The Adventurer
was Chaplin’s last film for Mutual and shows the maturation of his style as he
began to reach for longer form comedy. Even though he had settled his tramp persona
this film features a more malicious Charlie than some might expect. For a start
he is an escaped convict, there’s no back story on his innocence or otherwise,
and then there’s his fondness for alcohol and life’s baser pleasures. He nobly
dives in to save a drowning woman at a seaside resort but quickly switches
target when he sees her daughter (the divine Edna Purviance). He also saves the
girl’s would-be suitor, big and beardy Eric Campbell, only to drop him back in
the water again.
Charlie’s battle with Eric intensifies as he gains
acceptance in polite society and with the girl’s parents, even her father,
played by Henry Bergman, who is a judge who vaguely recognises him… Eric also
spies mischief when Charlie’s mugshot is shown in the newspaper and the police
return only to provide our (anti?) hero with more opportunities to humiliate
them through swiftness and comic invention few could match. Forget “sentimental”
Chaplin, this is Charlie the Punk and he wears it well.
 |
| ZRI: Max Baillie, Jon Banks, Matthew Sharp, Ben Harlan and Iris Pissaride |
So punk and classical do mix and this was a thoroughly
enjoyable – sold out – adventure for band and audience from which only a live Charlie
was missing. As ever the live setting brought out the best in both sight and
sound; it’s almost as if Charlie knows we’re laughing (long before 1917 he was
*sure*.)
I hope ZRI carry on this adventure as they are made for jazz-age capering. Chaplin was a world-wide success by 1917 and
you can imagine The Adventurer being
screened not just in Vienna and Hungary but in New York with jazz, klezmer, classical and all manner of folk music similarly deployed as accompaniment.
Both music and silent cinema were expressions of migrated
creativity and ZRI’s music shares its roots with the same sources, the melting
pot of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which itself fed out West as the Twentieth
Century began to take its toll.
More details of ZRI are available on their website - I urge you to seek them out!
“Smile though your heart is breaking, smile… ”
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