Their Own Spin

In the vast, kaleidoscopic world of 20th-century music, no one quite matched the unique profile of Kurt Weill, the classically trained German who went from the Weimar Republic to Hollywood to Broadway.

All the while, he managed to maintain serious musical intentions and an uncompromising signature style of composition. In short, there was much more to him than “Mack the Knife.”

Kicking off the Weill centenary year, the Los Angeles-based group the East Side Sinfonietta will perform an evening of Weill songs Wednesday at the Skirball Cultural Center.

The performance, in a sense, will be a warm-up exercise for the group’s more ambitious undertaking--a new production in February and March of the Weill-Bertolt Brecht musical “Happy End” at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

At the Skirball, the group will perform several songs from the 1929 musical written a year after the pair’s classic “Threepenny Opera.” As admiring of Weill as the five musicians in this group are, do not expect dry, note-perfect renditions from them; their credentials include performance art, experimental pop and offbeat rock projects.

“We don’t want to deconstruct these songs or do anything radical to the songs,” vocalist Weba Garretson said. “But at the same time, we want to make them our own, to modernize them a bit. Other people have been here before, people like Lou Reed, Marianne Faithful and Dagmar Krause, but we add our own spin.”

The group was formed two years ago by Garretson, an actress, vocalist and performance artist who was asked to perform as part of Brecht’s centenary. She called on keyboardist Joseph Berardi, now musical director of the group.

“We’re plugging away in our little niche that we inadvertently created with our approach to doing these songs,” Berardi said. “It’s great to now have an outlet, doing the ‘Happy End’ production. That should bring us to a wider audience and a higher profile.”

Garretson said she came to the music through theater.

“Anyone involved in avant-garde theater has exposure to Brecht, and the songs are so rich. I had never sung the songs, partly because I didn’t think I was ready. I needed to have more experience. I finally relaxed and realized that you can’t own this music.”

In preparing for the production, as well as the Skirball program, Garretson has had Weill on the brain for some time: “I’ve been deep into it, but it’s very satisfying.”

BE THERE

The Kurt Weill Centenary with the East Side Sinfonietta, 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Sepulveda Pass. Tickets: $12 general, $10 for Skirball members, $8 for students.