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elusive
originally released sept 2002
re-released 2007 (contains 5 bonus tracks recorded in Hungary with Nikola Parov in 2003)
Continuing to blaze new trails for contemporary world music
through the steppes of Tatarstan - a territory where even
the most intrepid listener usually fears to tread - Zulya
brings us an album of her own exquisite songs, inspired by
both the music of the world and by her Tatar heritage.
Quote: " ..(songs from elusive) oozed
beauty, drama, sadness, bonhomie and peasant wisdom in equal
measure." - John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald.
Zulya's new album is an affirmation of her unique identity,
but an affirmation of the progressive type, and most definitely
not of the conservative type! It is a step forward, and a bit
to the left, of her previous, more traditionally Tatar work
featured in Aloukie. Her music reflects not only the cultural
wealth of her background - Tatar, Russian, Australian - but
also an ongoing fascination with experimenting with timbres
and styles, manifested in employing of a diversity of unusual
instruments and instrumentation (kora, oud, bouzouki, litungu,
jaw harp, kalimba, tuba, flugel horn, saxillo, tabla, ghatam,
violin, accordion, and others). In command of this formidable
array of instruments are some of the best musicians in Australia:
Blair Greenberg, Llew Kiek, Epizo Bangoura, Davood Tabrizi to
name a few. Be prepared to hear everything from a Balkan-tinged
love song (complete with tuba, trumpets and accordion), insomnia,
to a West African kora lullaby, cradle song, and
the eastern sounds of jaw harp, oud and ghatam (pot-drum) on
late again. The unorthodox and sometimes adventurous
arrangments on elusive are nonetheless delicately sparse, and
above all there is Zulya's achingly beautiful voice - pure and
powerfully commanding in delivery.
Musicians on the Album:
Andrew Tanner - double bass (3, 5); Blair Greenberg
- guitar, jaw harp, ghatam, surdo, tabla, various percussion;
Carolyn Johns- tuba, baritone horn; Davood a Tabrizi - violin
(col legno), daayareh; Epizo Bangoura - kora; Jonathan Zwartz
- double bass (6); Llew Kiek - slide bouzouki, oud, slide
guitar, bouzouki; Martin Tucker - litungu; Paul Jarman - flutes,
saxillo, piano; Randal Muir - piano accordion (7); Stoli Petrovski-
flugel horn, trumpet; Svetlana Bunic - piano accordion (5);
Zulya - vocals, balafon, kalimba. |
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