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Diamanda Galas one of greatest singers, keyboardist and composers since the beginning of the eighties up today. Born on August 29th 1955 as American of Greek origin.
Beside her piano expertise her basic weapon is her operatic voice, which has three and a half octave range. She often shrieks, screams and howls in her songs which made her music very variable from suffering and despair to condemnation and social injustice, but also sometimes with very romantic sound to it.
Art historian specialized for performance art RoseLee Goldberg included her in her book “Performance – Live Art Since The 60’sâ€; which shown Diamanda Galas importance on all art scenes around the world.
“Galás was born to Greek Orthodox parents. Raised in San Diego, California, she studied both jazz and classical music from an early age, training which reveals itself consistently throughout all her work. She studied a wide range of musical forms, as well as visual-art performance, before moving to Europe. There she made her performance debut at the Festival d'Avignon in France in 1979, performing the lead in the opera, "Un Jour comme un autre," by composer Vinko Globokar, based upon the Amnesty International documentation of the arrest and torture of a Turkish woman for alleged treason.
Her work first garnered widespread attention with the controversial 1991 live recording of the album Plague Mass (1984 - End of the Epidemic) in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York. With it, Galás attacked the Roman Catholic Church (and society in general) for its indifference to AIDS using biblical texts. In the words of Terrorizer Magazine, "The church was made to burn with sound, not fire."[1]. Plague Mass was a live rendition of excerpts from her Masque Of The Red Death trilogy which began as a response/homage/indictment to the effects of AIDS upon the "silent class". After production of the trilogy's first volume began, Galás' brother, playwright Philip-Dimitri Galás, contracted HIV. It is important to note that Galás did not begin this work due to her brother's illness however this tragic situation inspired the artist to re-double her efforts resulting in the development of the aforementioned performance of Plague Mass (1984 - End of the Epidemic) in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. During the period of these recordings, Galás had we are all HIV+ tattooed upon her knuckles; an artistic expression of disillusionment and disgust with the ignorance and apathy surrounding the AIDS epidemic. Her brother, who died during the trilogy's final production, reportedly appreciated her efforts.
In 1994, Galás collaborated with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, a longtime admirer of the singer. The resultant record, The Sporting Life, while containing much of Galás's trademark vocal gymnastics, is probably the closest she has ever come to rock music, and is comprised of nearly all original material.
Excerpts from Galás' "I Put a Spell On You" and Jane's Addiction's "Ted Just Admit It" appear on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack as "Sex Is Violent."
Galás also performs as a blues artist interpreting a wide range of songs into her unique piano and vocal styles, beginning with Let My People Go from volume 3 of the Masque trilogy, You Must Be Certain of the Devil. This aspect of her work is perhaps best represented by her 1992 album, The Singer, where she covered the likes of Willie Dixon, Roy Acuff, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins while accompanying herself on piano. For that album, she also recorded several traditional songs as well as the rarely heard Desmond Carter-penned version of Gloomy Sunday. Many of the traditionals recorded for The Singer were historically sung by the black slaves of the southern United States. Galás however sung these songs for the daily struggle of People With AIDS (PWA's). Galás used many of her selections both within and outside of blues repertoire resulting in numerous song cycles; Reap What You Sow, Malediction and Prayer: Concert for the Damned, Frenzy: Concert for Aileen Wuornos, Burning Hell, La Serpenta Canta, Songs of Exile, Guilty Guilty Guilty, Les chansons malheureuses, Valentine's Day Massacre, and You're My Thrill. Some song selections have sometimes been categorized as 'homicidal love songs'. She also focuses on the death penalty. The above mentioned "Frenzy: Concert for Aileen Wuornos," has been dedicated to executed serial killer Aileen Wuornos, and features cover versions of Phil Ochs's "Iron Lady" and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry".
In late 2003, Galás released the album "Defixiones, Will and Testament: Orders from the Dead," an 80-minute memorial tribute to the Armenian, Greek, Assyrian and Hellenic victims of the Turkish genocide. "Defixiones" refers to the warnings on Greek gravestones against removing the remains of the dead.
Galás has published one book, 1996's The Shit of God (ISBN 185242432X). It contains many of her original writings, and was published because, she says, many people cannot understand her on the records. In 2005 she was awarded Italy’s prestigious Demetrio Stratos International Career Award.
As of July 2007, Galás continues to tour her latest song cycles and her forthcoming record Guilty Guilty Guilty is scheduled for release on Mute records on March 31, 2008. You're My Thrill is also set for release on Mute however a firm release date has not been made available.†(taken from Wikipedia)
Discography:
2008 - Guilty Guilty Guilty To be
released in on Mute (Live)
2003 - Defixiones, Will and Testament (Live)
2003 - La Serpenta Canta (Live)
1998 - Malediction & Prayer (Live)
1996 - Schrei X Part 1 - Schrei 27 (Studio)
/ Part 2 - Schrei X Live(Live)
1994 - The Sporting Life,
with John Paul Jones
1993 - Vena Cava
1992 - The Singer (Live)
1991 - Plague Mass (Live)
1989 - Masque Of The Red Death Trilogy
(The Divine Punishment & Saint of the Pit /
You Must Be Certain of the Devil)
1988 - You Must Be Certain Of The Devil
1986 - Saint Of The Pit
1986 - The Divine Punishment
1984 - Diamanda Galás - AKA Panoptikon - AKA The Metalanguage Album
1982 - The Litanies Of Satan - notable for
"Wild Women with Steak-Knives (The Homicidal
Love Song for Solo Scream)"
As you many of you may know brother of Diamanda Galas died from AIDS and since than she radically talked about that disease in her way. One of the fact is that I had also brother how died from AIDS and that was just one more thing that attracted me to Diamanda Galas and to start this page. This page is dedicated to one remarkable woman, but also to the people who are HIV + All of you who want to talk about that, ask the question or whatever you want, just do it, I will be here to answer and talked to you about it. Diamanda Galas statement WE ARE ALL HIV POSITIVE means not that we can get the disease but also the way how the people treat other people who are HIV positive.
Scream Of Love
Two Excerpts From
Eyes Without Blood
Gloomy Sunday - Live
Double Barrel Prayer
Saint Of The Pit
The Litanies on Satan
