Charlie's Siberian Diary

[zee]

From CG:

While Gerry Lyseight entertained listeners on Saturday Night (playlist below), I was on jury duty at the second Sayan Ring World Festival of Russian Music in the small town of Shusheskoye in Southern Siberia . Historians may recognise this as the place to which Lenin was exiled for three years, 1897-99 and, after two four-hour plane trips and a nine hour bus journey, it surely felt a long, long way from home.

Ten Just Men, we sat at a trestle table in the middle of a football pitch for five hours on each of three evenings (6.00 till 11.00), watching 40 Russian folk ensembles playing 25 minute sets, fenced off from the public who kept glancing at us to see how we were taking it. There’s a comedy sketch in there, I know, but we played it straight, and agreed unanimously on the top four, of which three surely deserve exposure outside Russia .

The First Prize (the Rouble equivalent of $3,000 US) went to Kilisakh, a vocal ensemble of female music students from Yakutia, in the North East of Siberia, whose leader Albina Degtiareva is their teacher (*). We were amazed first by the visual splendour of their costumes, and then by the ingenuity of their arrangements in which the only instruments are voices and the vibrating mouth-piece that they call a Khomus and the rest of the world calls a Jew’s Harp.

(* I’ve used the Western spelling of their name given to us by the Festival organisers, but the only reference I can find on the internet refers to them as Keskil. Reportedly, they made a record as Keskil with Japanese producer Leo Tadagawa for the Koukin label of Japan , but I cannot find any sign of it through Google. If anybody knows how to find a copy, I want one. Maybe Paul Fisher at www.farsidemusic.com can track it down for us. I have an email contact for the group if any agent or promoter out there wants to pick up the baton and run with it.)

[dylan edwards]

Following Charlie Gillett's news about the Sayan Ring festival, I looked for information about Kilisakh (aka Keskil?).
There's a cd by 3 singers/khomus players who I think are Kilisakh. It's called 'Summer is Coming' and will be available, I hope, from www.cdroots.com. It's out of stock at the moment, but at least you can hear two sample tracks. Go to cdroots, search for Degtyaryova, and there it is. I listened to the samples again just now - would definitely like to hear more.

The artists are Fedora Gogoleva, Albina Degtyaryova, Olga Podluzhnaya - and at least two of them are also on a cd called Trumpi (soundtrack to "an exotic road movie"). Info on www.zeelandnet.nl/paclax/jewsharp

Hope to hear more on the programme.

[TROITSA]

Regrettably a great deal about than You write to us has a no relations, we present not russian, but belarussian (Belarus, White Russland) ethnic music.

[Guest]

Regrettably a great deal about than You write to us has a no relations, we present not russian, but belarussian (Belarus, White Russland) ethnic music. www.troitsa.net

[DJ Charlie]

There is a big galllery of photos from the Sayan Ring Festival:

http://www.sayanring.ru/index.php?mod=gallery&id=5&pg=0

The website is run by the Travel Agent in Krasnoyarsk which organised the Festival. It is their intention that the Festival becomes a tourist attraction for people outside Russia, so this will give you a taste.

CG

[Guest]

There is a big galllery of photos from the Sayan Ring Festival:

http://www.sayanring.ru/index.php?mod=gallery&id=5&pg=0

The website is run by the Travel Agent in Krasnoyarsk which organised the Festival. It is their intention that the Festival becomes a tourist attraction for people outside Russia, so this will give you a taste.

CG

From Minsk before Krasnoyarsk much more to go, than from Minsk in London. :) :) 8) TROITSA