Inna Barmash, author of the Zemerl Yiddish song database, writes the Jewish-Music list:
I wanted to let you all know about the new record
we just released with my husband's band, Ljova & the Kontraband -
"Mnemosyne". Here's a page with all the info, some samples, and ways to buy
the album.
There is something for everyone on this album - lyrical melodies, hiccupping
rhythms, virtuosic improvizations, songs sung by yours truly (including a
song in Yiddish). The music is sort of an organic delicious intersection of
klezmer/gypsy/tango/latin/blues—but don't take my word for it :)
The band is:
- Ljova Zhurbin (viola/famiola)—dubbed "the world's hottest violist" by
George Robinson in the pages of the Jewish week (and I can't disagree ;)
- Patrick Farrell (accordion)
- Mathias Kunzli (percussion)
- Mike Savino (bass)
- and I sing :)
Several tracks on the recording ("Mnemosyne", "Koyl") also feature *Frank
London* on trumpet (who needs no introduction on this list) and *Uli
Geissendoerfer * on piano.
Enjoy the music, and I'd love to hear from you! Press release for the
album below.
MNEMOSYNE is the debut release of LJOVA AND THE
KONTRABAND,
a new ensemble project dedicated to original music that washes away
distinguishing lines between chamber music, jazz, contemporary global folk
music. The ensemble was founded by violist and composer, Lev 'Ljova'
Zhurbin, an active collaborator of Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, the
Kronos Quartet, composer Osvaldo Golijov, as well as a growing list of
independent filmmakers. (Among them, Francis Ford Coppola, who used Ljova's
composition "Middle Village" in his latest film, "Youth Without Youth"; and
"Man on Wire" director James Marsh, for whom Ljova scored the BBC
documentary "The Team", co-directed with Basia Winograd.)
Ljova explains: "Mnemosyne is the Greek name for the goddess of memory, and
in a way, this is a tribute to our collective experience. In the past few
decades, there have been massive revivals in almost every genre and region
of music. While a major part of these revivals has been to rediscover the
proverbial "Golden Era", we've concentrated on trying to take these
directions further, freeing our musical influences from their historical
characteristics and context."
As a classically-trained violist and composer, in leading an ensemble of
jazz- and folk-trained musicians for the first time, Ljova found great new
creative freedom in rehearsal and performances. The Kontraband never
performs the same set twice, and Ljova constantly adds new pieces to the
repertoire, each one unique, challenging and yet instantly accessible.
Speaking about the arch of the album, Ljova talks about the album having an
upswing at both ends, "but in the very center of the album, there is a
feeling of loss and sadness," he says. The album begins quite innocently
with a gentle rustle of percussion and found toys in MATHIAS, a tune Ljova
wrote to celebrate the hyper energy of his percussionist, Swiss-born Mathias
Kunzli, and also one for which Ljova has asked a young electronica producer,
EmiKa, to re-space and re-interpret the original composition in the digital
domain, re-sampling the instruments to create alternate atmospheres and
beats, striving to create a new kind of upbeat dance music, in 5/8 time, and
also featuring a fearless solo by accordionist Patrick Farrell. It is
quickly followed by MNEMOSYNE, the title track, from a completely different
sound world, a tango-influenced setting of a hundred year-old poem by
Trumbull Stickney, featuring the vocal of Ljova's wife and the lead vocalist
of the gypsy band Romashka, Inna Barmash, and Grammy-winning trumpeter Frank
London of the Klezmatics. The track was mixed by Anibal Kerpel, whose work
with Oscar-winning composer, guitarist and producer Gustavo Santaolalla and
his group Bajofondo has continuously pushed Tango – and indeed a whole
generation of Latin music—further.
Next follows WALKING ON WILLOUGHBY, an elegant bittersweet composition that
is inspired by the streets of Brooklyn by the group's accordionist, Patrick
Farrell; Ljova's frenetic LOVE POTION, EXPIRED jump-cuts between Brazilian
and Balkan influences, all the while blasting through an accelerating
tarantella.
Things take a sad turn in KOYL, Ljova's arrangement of a song found in the
Moshe Beregovski collection of Old Jewish Folk music, featuring once again
the voice of Inna Barmash and Frank London, this time on flugelhorn; but
optimism shines again in the tranquil HOW EASILY I GET LOST, a composition
by the ensemble's bassist, Mike Savino, who uses wrapper from a bag of
potato chips to create a gently fuzzing effect on his solo, recalling his
bass's African counterparts.
Midway through the album comes LESS, a composition Ljova recorded by
multitracking his viola to create a quintet of searching voices for the
soundtrack of the poetic short film "Un Peu Moins". It is followed by
CRUTCHAHOY NIGN, a Klezmer-inspired piece alternating between melancholy and
celebratory dancing, which Ljova penned to console his mother when she fell
in an accident, and had to walk on crutches for several weeks.
UNTANGO and SZEKI are two compositions from the soundtrack to the
independent film "Serpent's Breath", keenly influenced by the music of Tango
Nuevo and Astor Piazzolla. UNTANGO features the soulful performances of
guest accordionist William Schimmel, of the Grammy-nominated Tango Project,
and pianist Uli Geissendoerfer; SZEKI is a crossroads of Tango harmonies
with the rhythmic inspiration from the folk dances from the Transylvanian
town of Szek.
As the album draws towards its end, the Kontraband offers GONE CRAZY, the
humorous end-title song from the short film "Cupcake," which premiered at
the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, featuring guest pianist Alon Yavnai, tubist
Marcus Rojas, and the voice of Inna Barmash. At last, the band performs
Ljova's BAGEL ON THE MALECON, a signature tune made popular on his debut
recording, and numerous concert performances by the Enso String Quartet,
Brooklyn Rider, and others.
The album's cover art features work by Rena Effendi, an Azeri photographer
living in Baku. The two booklet photographs feature mysterious female
figures, perhaps alluding to modern expressions of Mnemosyne, the Greek
Goddess of Memory, while the interior tray image of a deserted stove makes
sure that the CD is always kept at proper heat.
LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND (formerly Ljova & the Vjola Contraband)—is
chamber-jam music for the "remix generation". As if by alchemy,
Eastern-European and Gypsy melodies, Latin rhythms, Jazz-inspired
improvisations, and deeply rooted Classical forms are given new meanings in
original compositions that fearlessly forge a new direction, with a
nostalgic gaze towards the past. Members of the Kontraband have performed on
stage and in the studio with Yo-Yo Ma, Moby, the Panorama Brass Band, Kate
Havnevik, Lauryn Hill, the Klezmatics, and others.
Since making its debut at the Om Factory Yoga Studio in June 2006, the
ensemble has performed at venues such as the New York's Museum of Modern
Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where it
was the opening musical guest of the Sundance@BAM Film Festival. The
Kontraband is also a mainstay at New York's legendary venue Joe's Pub, and
the Brooklyn-based club, Barbes.
Founded by the maverick film composer, arranger, and violist Lev 'LJOVA'
Zhurbin—hailed by Billboard magazine as "one of New York's fastest
rising composers and instrumentalists"—the ensemble also features his
close collaborators on vocals, accordion, bass and percussion. Inspired by
his collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Osvaldo Golijov, the Kronos Quartet, the
rapper Jay-Z and others, Ljova's compositions dazzle with intricate
textures, odd rhythms and lilting melodies, creating music that is both
fresh and timeless.
LEV 'LJOVA' ZHURBIN: BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
"I am simply in awe of Lev's talents. He is one of the outstanding exponents
of a new generation of musicians that I consider, in a good sense, mutants.
Equally at home in a chamber group or symphony orchestra playing the canon
of the literature or the most complex modernistic settings, or imaginatively
improvising on folk melodies with musicians from around the world, Lev
proves that an integration between seemingly different cultures is possible,
inevitable, and fruitful." —OSVALDO GOLIJOV
Hailed by Billboard Magazine as "one of New York's fastest-rising composers
and instrumentalists", LJOVA (Lev Zhurbin) stands at the forefront of his
generation as the premiere bridge between the world's musical cultures.
Ljova was born in 1978 in Moscow, Russia, and moved to New York with his
parents, composer Alexander Zhurbin and writer Irena Ginzburg, in 1990. He
divides his time between performing as a violist in diverse groups ranging
from his own LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND, to string quartets, jazz combos and
Gypsy bands; studying and arranging music for Yo-Yo Ma, the Kronos Quartet,
Jay-Z and others; and composing original music for film, TV, theatre and the
concert stage.
Ljova is the author of more than 70 compositions for classical, jazz, and
folk ensembles, as well as scores to three feature and over a dozen short
films. He is co-founder of Mediant Music, a new company specializing in
music for advertising and media. In 2005, Ljova was one of six composers
invited to participate in the Sundance Institute's Film Composers Lab. In
2007, Ljova worked as assistant to composer Osvaldo Golijov on his score to
Francis Ford Coppola's film "Youth Without Youth", to which Ljova also
contributed an original track, "Middle Village". Most recently, Ljova was as
guest faculty at the Banff Centre in Canada.
As an arranger, Ljova has completed dozens of musical arrangements for Yo-Yo
Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, the Kronos Quartet, the rapper Jay-Z, Bond,
Matmos, and others. Resulting from these collaborations are arrangements of
musics from Azerbaijian, China, India, Iran, Japan, Russia, Tanzania, as
well as gypsy music from Romania and France.
Ljova has recently released his acclaimed debut recording, VJOLA: WORLD ON
FOUR STRINGS, featuring original and traditional music, on Kapustnik
Records. Previously, he has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road
Ensemble on the bestselling Sony Classical CD "Silk Road Journeys: Beyond
the Horizon", and with The Andalucian Dogs on the Deutsche Grammophon CD
"Ayre", featuring the music of Luciano Berio and Osvaldo Golijov. He has
performed on tour with Savion Glover, and recorded with composer Ryuichi
Sakamoto, producer Guy Sigsworth and the Electric Light Orchestra.
Ljova grew up in a household filled with music, books and an unquenchable
hunger for culture. His father, Alexander Zhurbin, is Russia's foremost
composer for film and musical theatre; his mother, Irena Ginzburg, is a
distinguished poet, writer and journalist. He began violin lessons at age
four with Galina Turchaninova, a celebrated pedagogue who also taught
violinists Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin. When not practicing, the pre-teen
Ljova regularly overran his record player and played street hockey.
Ljova is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he was a pupil of Samuel
Rhodes (violist of the Juilliard String Quartet). He has won numerous prizes
as a composer, and appeared several times as soloist with orchestras,
including as a winner of the Menschenkinderpreis from RTL TV (Germany).,/p>
In addition to a busy career as a composer and arranger, Ljova maintains a
rigorous performing schedule as a violist. He can be heard most often his
ensemble LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND, the Gypsy party band ROMASHKA, the
viola/cello duo JOINT CUSTODY, with Walter Thompson's SP4TET, as well as
many other freelance groups and projects. Ljova performs on a viola made by
Alexander Tulchinsky, and a six-string hybrid made by Eric Aceto.
For the latest news, downloadable mp3s and CD releases, please visit Ljova's
website at Ljova.com
Oh, yeah. My stepson used to play with Alinsky's grandson, as sweet a kid as you could ask to know. Slandering Alinsky is slandering my son's friends. Feh. If your state allows early voting, get your rear in gear and vote so that you can spend nov 4th helping get out the vote and getting people to the polls. Me? I'll be helping said stepson, who is running a campaign for state senate for a mensh of a candidate. I guess that Alinsky stuff wore off on him. He can do a decent freilach on the sax when pushed, too.
* SHEMSPEED ANNIVERSARY PARTY
I am very pleased to announce the launch of my site, 