8 Days a Week
Oh so little
Robert Avila
June 22, 2005

The six-member new music ensemble Nanos Operetta may be small (nanos being Greek for "midget") but it contains multitudes. With a devilish penchant for eclecticism and found-object instrumentation, the San Francisco-based group launches tightly arranged musical odysseys with hairpin turns, dramatic dynamism, poetic-existential vocal narrations, and a sheer range of influences and colors that places them in orbit somewhere near John Zorn or the outer regions of Tom Waits, not far from the aural collages of Pluto, Splatter Trio, and Negativland. Over the last two years, while completing work on its epic first album, Nanos has presented an outstanding performance series, "Three Drops of Blood," curated by cofounder and vocalist-librettist Ali Tabatabai. "Installment VI" continues a unique showcase of local and international cross-disciplinary talent with a new duet by acclaimed pianist-composer Myra Melford and New York dancer Fay Simpson; experimental dance-theater company Kunst-Stoff's new "Solo," created with Greek bouzouki player Venizelos Papayannopoulos; and the US premiere of works by Yugoslav composer Boris Kovac, performed by the Chepikov String Quartet. The evening closes with a collaborative piece by Nanos, Melford, and butoh dancer Ledoh. Through Sat/25, Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida, SF. $17-$20.(415) 626-4370.