Veronika Povilioniene & Petras Vysniauskas - Islek, sakale [Fly, Falcon, Fly]

Petras Vysniauskas - soprano saxophone
Veronika Povilioniene - vocal



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01. Islek, sakale... (Fly, Falcon...) [06:14]
02. Bliuzas (Blues) [03:56]
03. Vai tu dziemed... (Oh, You Wormwood...) [02:45]
04. Sutartine [04:24]
05. Eik, ozeli (Go, Little Goat...) [05:22]
06. Lek gervele (A Crane Is Flying...) [03:14]
07. Kad jau saulute (Cause The Sun...) [04:44]
08. Sutems tamsi (Dark Night Is Coming...) [06:38]
09. Sutartine (Lament) [03:50]
10. Rauda [01:43]
11. Ein motuse (Mother Is Going...) [03:07]

Recorded in Vilnius, Lithuania in 1992.

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Veronika Povilionienė, the most famous performer of Lithuanian folk songs, has become a symbol of national culture. Originally from Dzūkija, the singer has inherited the tradition from the old singers of this region. Veronika Povilionienė's voice is strong and evocative; it reveals, with expression, the extraordinary beauty of the Dzūkian monodic songs, their modes and melodic turns. Apart from abundant solo performances and recordings, the singer frequently gives concerts with the folk ensemble Blezdinga and the ensemble of Indian classical music Lyla. The singer is also famous for her collaborations with jazz musicians and contemporary classical composers (saxophonist Petras Vyšniauskas, composers Vidmantas Bartulis and Bronius Kutavičius), other renowned artists, poets and film directors. One of her most notable recent projects is the program of historic and war songs Kada sūneliai sugrįš (When Our Sons Come Back), arranged by the composer Giedrius Svilainis and recorded with the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ Honour Guard Band.

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"Soprano saxophonist Petras Vysniauskas, a Lithuanian, is I believe one of the most profoundly original musicians concentrating on that instrument -- his jagged phrases expanded on determinedly original intervals and his sound is powerful -- stronger and more pointed than Sam River's has become, for instance, more densely concentrated than the late Steve Lacy's, if not polyphonic in the manner of Evan Parker." - Howard Mandel, NYC, USA, 2007

"... Petras Vysniauskas is one of the best soprano saxists we've heard in many years ... " - Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, NYC, 2006

"Something of the rugged beauty of the Lithuanian countryside and the passion of many of his fellow countrymen has been breathed into his music. For me Petras Vysniauskas' music remains unforgettable because of his clear, individual concept. The use of themes from traditional folk music is one facet of this saxophonist, who reflects both the modern development in jazz and the sound idioms of the new and latest improvised and composed music. However, as he himself says, his feeling for folk music is part of his musical identity. And he adds: "In Lithuanian folk songs I hear echoes of John Coltrane; I try to combine this with the free form of expression offered by modern jazz". (Bert Noglik/1990)

Enver Izmailov & Geoff Warren - Dancing over the Moon

Enver Izmailov - electric guitars;
Geoff Warren - flute & soprano saxophone;

01. Terrain turquoise [03:36]
02. Touch Down at Falconara [02:23]
03. Ancona danza [08:45]
04. Among the Hops [04:15]
05. Near the Grapes [03:55]
06. Boina [09:10]
07. Dolu [03:25]
08. Lonely Dancer [06:49]
09. Enver's Mood #2 [03:08]
10. Departure [06:38]
11. White Minarets [03:43]

Recorded live at Loft Hinkelstein, Essen, Germany on June 19 & 20, 1995.
Tutu Records

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Enver Izmailov is an unique musician who invented "tapping" - a highly original technique of the electric guitar playing (he plays guitar with his both hands on the neck as if it were a keyboard) - knowing nothing about Stanley Jordan who invented the same in US at the same time. His music is a combination of many elements - jazz, Mediterranean and oriental folklore, classical harmony and astonishing virtuosity.

http://www.jazz.ru/eng/pages/izmailov/
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Enver Izmailov:
live 2006 part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNxxfCKwgm8
3556
live 2006 part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jy6e3z1Bks
5816

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bHc_ps9HCU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXFjYorR4Tw
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Geoff Warren:
Donna Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nlAOG7PIYo
Oleo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WCVb3S78-g&

Michal Czachowski - Indialucia

Michal Czachowski - flamenco guitars, palmas, tanpura, kanjira, shakers, palo de agua, swarmandal, djembe, cajón, gong, voice, arrangements;
Avaneendra Sheolikar - sitar
Sandesh Popatkar - tabla
Pierluca Pineroli - cajón, tabla, sabar, caxixi, triangle, konnakol, choirs
Prasad Khaapadre - vocal;
Domingo Patricio - flute;
Giridhar Udupa - ghatam, morsing, konnako;
Maria Pomianowska - sarangi;
Carlos Troya - zapateado, jaleo;
Sagar Jarel - dholak;
Yrvis Mendez - fretless bass guitar;
Tomasz Pala - piano;
Adam Glosnicki - bass guitar;
Ireneusz Wyrobek - palmas;
Barbara Czachowska- choirs;
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string quartet [members of "Aukso" Chamber Orchestra]:
Marta Huget-Skiba - violin;
Natalia Walawska - violin;
Anna Grzybala - viola;
Aleksandra Steczek -cello;

01. Raag & Olé (Rumba) [05:22]
02. Nagpur (Sevillanas/Dhun) [04:08]
03. Herencia hindú (Soleá por Bulerías) [06:42]
04. Taliquete (Jaleo) [03:26]
05. Mohabbat ka khazana (Tangos/Qawwali) [05:16]
06. Gujari todi (Raga) [08:05]
07. Kyabathe (Bulerías) [06:37]
08. Indialucía (Intro) [02:15]
09. Indialucía (Zambra) [05:15]
10. Amanecer (Martinete) [02:53]

Recorded in India & Spain 1999-2004

Indialucia
This musical project combines two musical styles – Classical Indian Music and the Flamenco. The original concept is from producer / musician – Michal Czachowski himself. The result of his work is an album which shows how much Flamenco and its “distant roots” - Indian Music have in common.

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Miguel Czachowski
Flamenco guitarist, composer, architect. Born in 1974 into a family of flamenco lovers where he was raised in a flamenco music environment. At the age of 12 he began learning to play the guitar. After his initial studies he took master classes from professional flamenco players such as Rafael Cortés, Salva del Real and Gerardo Núñez, which solidified his complete dedication to flamenco. In 1992, he formed a flamenco group gradually enlarging the numbers of the artists from a duo to septet. His group "Viva Flamenco!" plays both traditional and contemporary flamenco mixed with influences of Indian and Jazz music. Performing both as a solo artist and also with his musical group, Miguel has won first prizes in many folk festivals and is now the leading flamenco player in his country. He has performed and recorded with many great artists and groups and he concretised all over Poland as well as abroad (Austria, Germany, Italy, France, England, Belgium, Holland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belarus, Oman and India). For several years he has been teaching flamenco guitar, and writing articles and interviews, promoting the art of flamenco music in magazines as "Flamenco International Magazine", "Jazz Forum" and "Swiat Gitary". In 1998, after a performance in Italy, he was invited to India to teach flamenco guitar at the Academy of Music and Fine Arts in Nagpur. There he started studying Indian music, learning to play the sitar under the guidance of Avaneendra Sheolikar. His fascination for flamenco and Indian music inspired him to go back to the roots of the Gypsy music and record CD titled Indialucia.

Indialucia is a musical project, which fuses two fascinating styles of music: Indian and Flamenco music. The album expresses both the human and musical fusion of these cultures, which could have had a common ancestor. Improvisation and rhythm are the common elements in both styles and are essential to the continued existence of this music. The recordings were made between 1999 and 2004 mostly in India and Spain. Many great artists from the two continents performed. This album is the result of the years of work, which for the first time demonstrates the common elements of flamenco and its Indian roots fused into one art form.
The album was distinguished with the 1st prize "Best Album of the Year 2005" Wirtualne Gesle and 2nd music critics' prize at the New Tradition competition for the "Folk Phonogram of 2005" award.
http://www.cremm.com/indialucia

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Michal Czachowski
Born in 1974, Michal grew up under the influence of flamenco music. When he was twelve, he started to learn the guitar. In 1992, he founded a music group “Viva Flamenco”, which won already some musical awards.
In 1998, after the performance at the international festival in Italy, he accepted an invitation to go to the Musical Academy in Nagpur, India. There he worked as the guitar teacher and at the same time he learned to play an Indian musical instrument - sitar.
He composed a lot of music for telvesion and radio programs, performed in India and many European countries. We too were fortunate to witness his performance at the concert in Borotin in 2004.

I have got this CD as a present during the Adi Shakti seminar in Poland. It is one of the most incredible CDs I have ever heard. The synthesis of the flamenco guitar and sitar in conjunction with the other Indian musical instruments is unbelievable. I picked up the phone and called Michal. The Sahaja Yogis already knew him from the performance at the Borotin Festival 2004, where he fascinated the audience with his guitar mastery. Afterwards, via e-mail, Michal answered a few of my questions.
Interview with Michal Czachowski here...
http://blog.sahajayogaradio.org/2009/01/michal-czachowski-indialucia.html

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http://www.indialucia.com/
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOqgg8IVdKc

Ti Jaz - Ti Jazz en concert: Musiques Bretonne Aujourd'hui

Olivier Mell - bombards;
Richard Dilly - electric bass;
Olivier Le Gallo - drums;
Camille Ollivier - alto & soprano saxophone, bombard;
Bruno Brochet - tenor saxophone;
Didier Queron - tenor & baritone saxes;
Eric Richard - accordion;
With:
Vincent Bucher - harmonica.
Recorded in Paris on February 19,20 & 21, 1993.

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01. Les filles de Lannion [05:28]
02. Suite de gavottes (rotavator 1) [04:40]
03. Concept [01:56]
04. Rotavator 2, le retour [06:53]
05. An daou vreur [03:48]
06. Terre battue [08:49]
07. Bamenjou [05:25]
08. Suites plin (ton simple) [03:35]
09. bal [02:10]
10. ton double [03:15]
11. Loudia [07:21]
12. Kost'er hoed [05:32]
13. Tricot [03:08]

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"C’est le groupe mythique du jazz celtique de l’Ile de France ... 1982, date de naissance du groupe et pendant 20 ans, ils se sont produits dans de nombreux pays. Quelle notoriété ! Pendant 20 ans, ils ont fait le bonheur des passionnés de musiques celtiques adaptées à notre époque, et des danseurs dans les bals folk car c’est aussi très dansant ...
Répertoire musical : un mélange de swing, jazz, funk aux airs traditionnels ; des mélodies du Trégor ou de Spézet et le rythm’n blues ... . quelle originalité et qualité musicales !" (http://danseseniledefolk.free.fr/article.php3?id_article=116)

"While there are bands in abundance resurrecting the folk traditions of Brittany, there are only a handful that are expandiing those traditions. Ti jaz is one of them. Starting with a band of bass, drums and accordion, they have added the instruments of jazz: saxophones, and the instrument of ancient France: the bombarde, a raspy, woodwind with a bagpipe-like sound. So, too, have they melded these musical elements, the melodies and ideas of early French music with the improvisation of free jazz and the gut of rock. They pay hommage to the "ideal jazz" bands of 1940s and players like Yves Menez, who used horns, fiddle, accordion and banjo to create a new French folk music. In that same spirit, Ti Jaz sprawl across the musical landscape, one minute a dark dirge on bombarde, the next firing off a slap bass and drum riff that would settle in nicely at The Knitting Factory. The eight instrumental works on Rêves Sauvages are sometimes chaotic, often lyrical and always challenging. They achieve power without electricity, a power intrinsic in the instruments and the source material." (http://www.rootsworld.com/rw/feature/france.html)

samples:

http://www.musictrad.org/bottin/sons/tijaz_a1.ram
http://www.gimini-music.com/cdsearch/tijaz2.htm

Olivier Mell:
http://www.myspace.com/oliviermell

Bronislaw Duzy & Jorgos Skolias - Do It

Bronislaw Duży -trombone;
Jorgos Skolias -vocals, percussion;
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01. Afryka [06:00]
02. Piec napiec [05:07]
03. Kolo [06:08]
04. Bluesdla [07:06]
05. Imena [04:55]
06. Zolo [03:34]
07. Foxy Lady [03:43]
08. Zeimbekiko [06:19]
09. Pentagon [05:52]

Recorded on November & December 1997
excerpt # No 7.
Recorded in Saloniki, Greece on February 27, 1997 & March 06, 1997
CD Sound CDSCD 110

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Skolias / Duzy -Zeimbekiko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlcfgwh5pSM

Skolias / Duzy - Foxy Lady
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiFocfEhT6A

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About musicians

in English:

JORGOS SKOLIAS – vocalist, composer

His parents were Greek political refugees. He grew up in a cosmopolitan and culturally diverse young environment. He took part in events organised by the Greek minority, becoming involved not only in Greek music, but also trying rock and blues. He remembers his youth in Zgorzelec as being extremely inspiring.
In the 1970s he became involved with Wroclaw’s very active and exciting rock and blues scene, working with the bands Nurt, Grupa 1111 and Spisek Szesciu.
His own professional career began in 1982, when he joined the jazz rock formation “KRZAK”, soon attracting the interest of a number of searching, innovative musicians, from whom he received offers of live concert work and recording opportunities. He spent over a year with the band Osjan. Between 1988 and 1991 he was the vocalist with Young Power, a group of young, unorthodox artists that demonstrated an important and innovative approach to jazz.
His work with Radosław Nowakowski (the percussionist in Osjan), the bands Tie Break, Pick Up, Free Cooperation, and Tomasz Stańko, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Terje Rypdal, Nikos Touliatos and Bronisław Duży led him to experiment with new visions of music.
He has taken part in several recordings of music for theatre and film.
Jorgos Skolias is a musician seeking not only his own individual formula for the use of the human voice in music, but also inspiration, whether from blues, jazz, rock, or ethnic music, whether that of Greece, Africa or India. He studies ancient forms of vocal techniques, which has enabled him to master the technique of harmonic singing (taking three parts at once).
(http://www.wiener-krakauer.at/wk/?p=783).

BRONISLAW DUZY - trombone.

During his career he had an opportunity to participate in many jazz, blues and rock festivals such as: Jazz Jamboree, Jazz nad Odra, Jarocin, Jazz Juniors, Solo Duo Trio, Rawa Blues and other festivals in Austria, Belgium, Norway, Russia, Germany, U.S.A. and Canada.

His CD "Do it" is the result of cooperation with Bronisław Duży with whom Skolias has been working since 1993.This music is a synthesis of different kinds of music genders where inspirations of folk and a varieties of rhythms and tones play a key role. In his music one can find the mood of blues, the expression of soul and a ballad narration. They all are supported by the rhythmic pulsation of trombone."

&
in Italian:

Jorgos Skolias e Bronislaw Duzy: voce e trombone

Lo stile del complesso è dato dalla sintesi di diversi generi: ispirazione dal folklore, il clima del blues, la narrazione della ballata, l’espressività vocale del soul.

JORGOS SKOLIAS
Il cantante polacco più originale, noto per la sua tecnica di canto multivocale. Negli anni ‘80 ha lavorato col complesso Krzak, e coi gruppi Tie Break, Basspace, Free Cooperation, Green Revolution, Ossian, Young Power, Pick up. Con Radoslaw Nowakowski ha inciso il disco Zulu. Ha partecipato a tutti i festival jazz polacchi e ai festival in Belgio, Svezia, Germania, Russia, Norvegia, Grecia.

BRONISLAW DUZY
Diplomato all’Accademia di Musica di Katowice, dove attualmente insegna. Arrangiatore e compositore, dal 1987 è in testa alla classifica “Jazz Top” della rivista “Jazz Forum” (categoria del trombone). Ha collaborato coi complessi Sesja 80, Free Cooperation, Pick up, Twinkle Brothers, Irek Dudek – Blues Band and Symphonic Blues, Young Power, Priest and Big Cork. Ha preso parte ai festival jazz in Polonia e a Stoccolma, Oslo, Riga, Novosibirsk, Mosca, Budapest, Praga, Monaco, Berlino, Munster, Nancy, Graz, Vienna, Lussemburgo.

Jazz Meets Asia

1-4: Hideo Shibaki Quintet feat. Terumasa Hino & Three Koto Girls
01. Yosakoi-Bushi [04:07]
02. Yamanaka-Bushi [06:48]
03. Matsuri No Genzo [06:15]
04. Suwa [06:13]

5-6: Irene Schweizer Trio & Dewan Motihar Trio with Barney Wilen & Manfred Schoof
05. Sun Love [17:44]
06. Yaad [05:19]

7-11: Tony Scott & The Indonesian All Stars
07. Djanger Bali [06:03]
08. Gambang Sulling [07:11]
09. Ilir Ilir [04:00]
10. Burungkaka Tua [05:20]
11. Summertime [08:13]

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Musicians:

1-4:
Hideo Shiraki - drums
Terumasa Hino - trumpet
Takeru Muraoka - tenor & soprano saxophone, flute
Yuzuru Sera - piano
Hachiro Kurita - bass
Kinuko Shirane - koto
Keiko Nosaka - koto
Sachiko Miyamoto - bass koto

Recorded November 1, 1965 in Berlin;
Original released on "Sakura Sakura" MPS Records 15.064

5-6:
Dewan Motihar - sitar, vocals
Keshav Sathe - tablas
Kusm Thakur - tambura
Irene Schweizer - piano
Uli Trepte - bass
Mani Neumeier - drums
Manfred Schoof - cornet, trumpet
Barney Wilen - soprano & tenor saxophone

Recorded October 23, 1967;
Original released on "Jazz Meets India" MPS Records 15.142

7-11:
Tony Scott - clarinet
Bubi Chen - piano, siter, ketjapi
Jack Lesmana - guitar
Marjono - tenor saxophone, flute, vocals
Yopi Chen - bass
Benny Mustafa - drums

Recorded October 27&28, 1967 at SABA Recording Studio, Villingen;
Original released on "Djanger Bali" MPS Records 15.145

Jon Jang Sextet "Two Flowers on a Stem"

Jon Jang - piano
David Murray - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
James Newton - flute
Santi Debriano - bass, daluo (Chinese large gong)
Billy Hart - drums
Chen Jiebing - erhu

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01. Two Flowers On A Stem [04:12]
02. Meditations On Integration [18:21]
03. Eleanor Bumpurs [05:22]
04. The Procession/Woman Shaman Of Alishan [11:19]
05. Variation On A Sorrow Song Of Mengjiang Nu [15:56]
06. Butterfly Lovers Song [07:09]

Recorded in NYC on June 08, 09 & 11, 1995
Soul Note 121253-2, 1996.

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http://www.jonjang.com/
http://www.furious.com/perfect/asianimprov.html

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Pianist/composer Jon Jang has long created music that combines advanced jazz with aspects of his Chinese heritage. For this superb disc of inside/outside music, Jang utilizes a sextet also featuring the remarkable flutist James Newton, David Murray on tenor and bass clarinet, bassist Santi Debriano, drummer Billy Hart, and Chen Jiebing on a haunting cello-like instrument called the erhu. Strong passionate melodies give way to straight-ahead jamming, free sections, and other themes. As with Charles Mingus (one of his influences), Jang's pieces are sometimes quite political, and his music often unfolds like an episodic suite. Performing Mingus' "Meditations on Integration," four Jang originals, and "Butterfly Lovers Song," the sextet's many colorful voices somehow blend together as one in service to the consistently powerful music. This highly recommended set deserves and rewards repeated listenings.(Review by Scott Yanow)
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The story of the making of "Two Flowers on a Stem":
On a warm evening in April,1994. I had return to my home in San Francisco from Berkeley where I spent another long and exhausting day of rehearsal for the dramatic adaption of Maxine Hong Kingston’s book,"The Woman Warrior" which was to be premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. I was in the final stage of refining the score for "The Woman Warrior." I was not content with the score because it contained too many Chinese traditional folk songs. I wanted more of my music. Like a filmmaker who temporarily selects pre-existing source music during pre-production period before the composer becomes part of the process, the idea was for me to use pre-existing music to give the director a sense of the musical feeling and then later replace the pre-existing source music with my original music. However, the director became very attached to the pre-existing music, particularly "Kang Ding Love Song" which was used during a romantic scene of two young lovers.

Beginning with the first three pitches (3-5-6) of The "Kang Ding Love Song" as a point of departure, another melody began to "blossom" in me like a new petal from the same stem and I began to compose a new melody. Somewhere in the process, I had just remembered that I left my score in a bag inside the trunk of my car which was parked three blocks away. After retrieving the score, I was half a block away from my home when I heard a voice shouting,"Give me your money!" I turned around and there were two young Chinese men with a gun facing me. I gave them all the money in my wallet. Unfortunately, they saw my gold wedding ring which was custom made in Hawaii and removed it from my finger. After telling Joyce, my wife, about the mugging and filing a police report, I finish composing the A section of "Two Flowers on a Stem," which became the final version for the play.

The dramatic adaption of "The Woman Warrior" was staged at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Huntington Theatre in Boston and the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles duirng 1994-95. In December 1994 one month before the Los Angeles premiere, Joyce and I learned that we could not conceive a biological child. Our dream of having a son, who would have been named James after my father, was not going to happen. Reality sadly sank in. I suddenly realized that I became the last male member to carry the Jang family name. I began to raise questions to myself: "Who am I? What am I doing here?"

With "The Woman Warrior" production running in Los Angeles the next month, I took the opportunity to visit Steve and Ella Leong, who were close friends of my father. After my father died, it had been almost forty years since I remember them.. On June 30, 1956, two commerical airplane carrying 128 passengers which collided and crashed over the Grand Canyon on June 30, 1956. There were no survivors. My father, Dr. James Joseph Jang, was one of the victims. My mother was left to single-handedly raise my older brother Dana, myself and my sister Deeana who was not yet born. "Uncle" Steve told me the story about the Glendale Cemetery denying funeral services to my family for my father because he was Chinese American - even though he had been burned to ashes. Two years later, my mother suffered a nervous breakdown and had to take electroshock treatment in Belmont, California. Despite these hardships, my mother survived and courageously raised three children by herself. "Two Flowers on a Stem" is about the lily that can endure in the swamp.

During the 90s, I had been listening to Chinese folk songs, from both northern and southern regions of China. When I was creating "Two Flowers on a Stem," I composed a melody for the erhu that had characteristis very similar to Chinese folk songs, but I placed it in my own context. I wanted to compose a love song that would allow conflict to become tenderness, to express a desire for beauty and strength. When I heard Jiebing Chen’s erhu performance in the fall of 1994, it was the voice penetrating the heart of tragedy and transforming it into the embodiment of beauty. There is a strong connection in the relationship between tragedy and beauty that can be traced to the works by early composers for the erhu. Hua Yan-Jun (aka "Blind" Abing) began his early life as an orphan and lived in a life of poverty. When he began to lose his sight, he composed "Moon Reflected Over the Autumn Lake" as a way to remember the beauty of life.

"Two Flowers on a Stem" was fated for Jiebing Chen. I added a bridge which featured the somber and melancholy sound of the inside string or the lower D string. In June 1995, Jiebing and I joined James Newton, David Murray, Santi Debriano and Billy Hart to record "Two Flowers on a Stem" under the name of the Jon Jang Sextet in New York for Soul Note (121253-2), a record company based in Milano, Italy. We recorded "Two Flowers on a Stem" in one take. It was one of the greatest gifts given to me by these artists and the Executive Producer Flavio Bonandrini. Frank Tafuri, a record producer and founder of Omnitone, was also present at this historic session.

Three months later in September, my daughter was born in China.My wife and I adopted her in January 1996. Xiao Mei, the Chinese name given to her by the orphanage, means "small beauty." My wife and I also named our daughter, Mika, which means "beautiful scent" in Japanese. One of the personal meanings behind "Two Flowers on a Stem" is about adopting Chinese music in my musical language and a daughter from China in my life. This period in my life showed how tragedy can turn into beauty, "when sorrow turns to joy" -Jon Jang(http://www.jonjang.com/two_flowers/)