Tuvan Music: Miscellaneous Groups

Tuvan Music
Miscellaneous Groups

Tuva Ensemble

Tuva Ensemble: Oske Cher. This is the very first CD which features khoomei recorded by a female singer. Most musicians of the Tuva Ensemble are quite young, born in mid- to late-70s, and all the original members such as Kongar-ool Ondar, Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, Anatoli Kuular and Gennadi Tumat have left the group. However, they're arguably one of the finest groups with the greatest singers of the current generation of Tuvan throatsingers. Ayas-ool Danzyryn, the solist of the Ensemble has five different styles of khoomei. Female vocalist, Chonchalai Oorzhak is the grand-daughter of Khunashtaar-ool Oorzhak, master of khoomei. (The soundsheet the came with the first edition of Tuva or Bust contains a track by this master.) Recorded live in Sendai, Japan November 29 2000.

Volkov Trio

Volkov Trio: Much Better. The modern jazz group Volkov Trio (Slava Kurashov, Vladimir Volkov & Denis Sladkevich) featuring guest performers Sergey Starostin, Arkady Shilkloper, Igor Butman, Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, Mola Sylla & Olivier Ker-ourio. This is a really wonderful CD featuring Kaigal-ool performing on two of the tracks (Tuva & Duet) in a jazz/throatsinging fusion that is very interesting.

Shu-de

Voices From The Distant Steppes. This CD is Real World's entry into the sweepstakes of albums featuring throatsinging from the isolated central Asian region of Tuva. A shamanic ritual piece with drum and chanting seems like it could be Native American music. Excellent packaging with photos, a map, superb descriptive notes, and summaries of what the lyrics mean.

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Yat-Kha

Aldyn Dashka. The voices are extraordinary, ranging from a melodic ox bellow called kargyraa to the "whistling" sygyt style that suggests a flying saucer revving its hyperdrive. But Aldyn Dashka improves on its predecessor, Dalai Beldiri, with songs as memorable as the throat singing within. When Albert Kuvezin croaks the tender nature tune "Chorumal Bodum" in a rock-bottom bass timbre that might make Bigfoot quake, he's handsomely framed by a two-stringed igil fiddle, throbbing electric guitar, and trotting bass. "Kozhamyk" contrasts Kuvezin's gravelly tones with Aldyn-ool Sevek's heroic operatic tenor that's as clear as a Siberian stream. Both are lifted by a vowel-packed chorus and wah-wah guitar figures that somehow fit right into a folkie song about the attributes of local womenfolk. Just a hint of dub piano complements the brew. The rousing "Takh-Pakh Chasky Tan" boasts a virile back-at-the-ranch beat, big percussion, martial guitar lines, a peppy hook, and uncanny human growls. Russian traditional ditty "Oi Moroz" features a punky gut-bucket guitar solo to contrast its lively tune, plus unexpectedly rich chorale singing from the crew. Back in the realm of pure vocal artistry, Kuvezin amazes on the a cappella "Bai-La Mongun" by augmenting low notes with harmonic highs that dance a second melody in an exquisite example of throat-singing dexterity. Forget the hype that tries to sell this ensemble as the Tuvan equivalent of a garage band. Aldyn Dashka is as well-rounded and oddly beautiful as any of the region's traditional music.

Yenisei-Punk. The 1995 recording by this important and daring Tuvan band is now back in print. Remastered and reissued with two extra tracks, Yenisei-Punk takes otherworldly Tuvan throat singing and fuses it with rock and blues, embellishing several tracks here with guitar. While leader Albert Kuvezin claims to be influenced by Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Sonic Youth, tracks like "Kaa-Khem" actually sound closer to the Velvet Underground with its simple but insistent percussion, rock guitar chord progressions, and morin-hoor (a bowed Tuvan instrument). It's also interesting to note that Kuvezin, in classic punk fashion, remakes such Soviet propaganda songs as "Solun Chaagai Sovet Churtum" (i.e., "Beautiful Soviet Country"), adding a cynical edge in much the same way that the Sex Pistols did with "God Save the Queen." Definitely one of the more interesting musical hybrids one is likely to come across.

Dalai Beldiri. Albert Kuvezin, the band's founder and leader, and a former member of Huun-Huur-Tu, sees the folk music of Tuva as a stepping-off point for his band, a point of contact with the heritage but also a point of contention with the power of static culture. Yat-Kha feature electric guitar (often fuzzy and distorted, to mimic the gruff, basso kargyraa vocals), in addition to local string and percussion instruments that offer a rooted sound to an often chaotic musical web. The album shines, using the shamanic roots of the group's Siberian predecessors to forge ahead with new, innovative, and often disconcerting music that emphasizes the power of the human voice as much as the power of the electric guitar. This is a groundbreaking album for Tuva, one that pushes the boundaries without just making it accessible.

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Miscellaneous Groups

NEW ALBUM !

Edge City Collective - Aktivavoco (the third installment of the Edge City Trilogy)

In this collection we experiment with the interaction of instrumentals and voices in new ways.
In addition to Edge City regulars, we have several unique and dynamic guest vocalists: the incomparable Vickie Dodd, and throat-singer Devan Miller, chanteuse Judith-Kate Friedman, and baritone Jim Couture.
The music pulls together jazz, and wide-ranging styles from around the world (Central Asian, Native American, Middle Eastern), and uses voices in mysterious and occasionally outrageous ways. It may be non-commercial, but, according to our informal focus groups, it is also entertaining to listen to.
You may laugh, scream, or say "wow"... Give it a listen and let us know!

$15.00

Khoomei of Tuva/Ortemchei: Ozum. A wonderful CD out of Japan (part of the World Music Library) presenting three very talented Tuvan musicians: Kara-kat Sojan, Ondar Sergei, and Dostai Otkun. Very powerful, and not to be missed.