Huun-Huur-Tu Press Release
Kerry Yackoboski
records, the entire first page devoted to Huun-Huur-Tu.
Half the page consists of 2 recent photos of Sasha and Sayan Bappa,
Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, and Anatoli Kuular (sans hat!). In one photo the
four are seated on horses, and one (Sayan? It's hard to make out)
seems to be losing control. The photo is taken on a plain near a
ridge that could be anywhere from Tuva to the Kyzyl-Khem Floodway.
The larger photo is sort of weird; the four are sitting cross-legged
on the ground in front of what looks like a hedge. Hanging from some
trees behind the edge, or balanced on top of the hedge, are their
instruments and hats.
Here's the text, presented without comment.
(In large type)
Be Amazed. Be Very Amazed.
HUUN-HUUR-TU
Sixty Horses in My Herd - Old Songs and Tunes of Tuva
(In smaller type)
- In world music circles, the hottest buzz right now is on Tuvan "throat
singers", a centuries old form of overtone singing handed down from
father to son in which the performer can articulate two or three
contrasting tones at a time giving him the ability to sing the lead
melody and musical accompaniment simultaneously!
- From this former Soviet republic (Tuva) comes Huun-Huur-Tu, whose name
means "layers of light", a fitting name since Tuvans compare their
layers of tone to the vertical layers of light that reflect off their
mountainous countryside.
- While a few earlier recordings of Tuvan songs have been unaccompanied
academic exercises, this album represents the music at its full
potential, wherein instrumental virtuosity plays an equally important
role to the singing, complementing it hand-in-glove.
- All the members of this group have already toured the US twice with
rave reviews. The Boston Globe described their music as "sounds that
are at once earthly and otherworldly, direct and subtle."
- Huun-Huur-Tu was part of a jam session held earlier this year at Frank
Zappa's house, and they joined Ry Cooder recently on the soundtrack of
the upcoming motion picture "Geronimo".
- Huun-Huur-Tu will be embarking on a major three month tour of the U.S.
this January (see the artists on tour section on page 4) and is sure
to generate music press - and co-op advertising!
"This music is astoundingly pure, dunking you into a fragrant cauldron
of ear twisting exoticism" - Los Angeles Weekly.
Kerry Yackoboski
>Here's the text, presented without comment.
And now here's the comment... :-)
This release leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps it's
because I'm a relative old timer to khoomei, but I don't think I'm all
*that* jaded. I have seen better press releases for Tuvan singers,
though.
>(In large type)
> Be Amazed. Be Very Amazed.
> HUUN-HUUR-TU
> Sixty Horses in My Herd - Old Songs and Tunes of Tuva
Oh! I thought it was going to be "Sixty Horses in My *HEAD*"! Well,
I guess that leaves this title available for my album.... :-)
>- In world music circles, the hottest buzz right now is on Tuvan "throat
> singers", a centuries old form of overtone singing handed down from
> father to son in which the performer can articulate two or three
> contrasting tones at a time giving him the ability to sing the lead
> melody and musical accompaniment simultaneously!
Why not use the word "khoomei"? Or mention something about Tuvan
culture, or why it's sweeping the nation now?
>- While a few earlier recordings of Tuvan songs have been unaccompanied
> academic exercises, this album represents the music at its full
Them's fighting words.... who do these guys think they are? Or is
this album that much better than any others that are out?
> potential, wherein instrumental virtuosity plays an equally important
> role to the singing, complementing it hand-in-glove.
>
>- All the members of this group have already toured the US twice with
> rave reviews. The Boston Globe described their music as "sounds that
> are at once earthly and otherworldly, direct and subtle."
I don't know if that's true - I thought that this summer was the Bappa
brothers' first visit to North America.
>- Huun-Huur-Tu was part of a jam session held earlier this year at Frank
> Zappa's house, and they joined Ry Cooder recently on the soundtrack of
> the upcoming motion picture "Geronimo".
Well, that's not true either - the recording at FZ's "Baby Milk
Factory" studio was with Kaigal-ool and Kuular, but the Bappa's
weren't there and Kongar-ool Ondar was. I also find it hard to
believe that Sasha joined Ry Cooder on the soundtrack; this is the man
that was introducing himself to pretty young women by saying he used
to be a musician but he's now a manager (that's Sasha, not Ry :-)).
And the only instrument I saw him play was the bull scrotum maraca
(now that was one to show your kids....). Sayan, on the other hand,
was a very talented musician.
Jeff Dickson
>>- While a few earlier recordings of Tuvan songs have been unaccompanied
>> academic exercises, this album represents the music at its full
>Them's fighting words.... who do these guys think they are? Or is
>this album that much better than any others that are out?
Well, there is some good stuff on there, but those comments are indeed
overboard. I wonder who wrote it, as one of the people integral to those
"academic exercises" was involved to a limited extent (Not Ralph Leighton,
but that's another story...)
>>- All the members of this group have already toured the US twice with
>> rave reviews. The Boston Globe described their music as "sounds that
>> are at once earthly and otherworldly, direct and subtle."
>I don't know if that's true - I thought that this summer was the Bappa
>brothers' first visit to North America.
It is not true, unless you count the break in Canada resulting in two separate
U.S. tours - that's stretching it, but this is advertising.
>>- Huun-Huur-Tu was part of a jam session held earlier this year at Frank
>> Zappa's house, and they joined Ry Cooder recently on the soundtrack of
>> the upcoming motion picture "Geronimo".
>Well, that's not true either - the recording at FZ's "Baby Milk
>Factory" studio was with Kaigal-ool and Kuular, but the Bappa's
>weren't there and Kongar-ool Ondar was.
Actually, the Bappa's were at Zappa's. "Huun-Huur-Tu" did show up at Zappa's
after their last day at the movie studio. They were there for a short
time before heading to the airport for their flight to San Francisco.
However, Ondar was the focus of the evening. In fact, he arrived earlier
because he did not participate in the movie soundtrack. He was supposed
to, but the "Huun-Huur-Tu" boys did not want him to be part of it.
Dropping Zappa's name is sad. Those arrangements had very little to do
with "Huun-Huur-Tu" - it came about due to the hard work of Ralph Leighton.
HHT then dumped Ralph, but throughout the tour Sasha was trying to get
his hooks into all of Ralph's arrangements.
> I also find it hard to
>believe that Sasha joined Ry Cooder on the soundtrack; this is the man
>that was introducing himself to pretty young women by saying he used
>to be a musician but he's now a manager (that's Sasha, not Ry :-)).
Sasha was only at the studio two of the three days. He did not play
on the soundtrack, and almost scuttled the whole deal. He did plan
to learn to throat sing.
- jeff
Kerry Yackoboski
>Sasha was only at the studio two of the three days. He did not play
>on the soundtrack, and almost scuttled the whole deal. He did plan
>to learn to throat sing.
Hey, if *I* can learn to sing a bit (nowhere near as good as the
masters) one would think Sasha could learn a bit; after all, he is in a
band with three experts, while I learned from Dan's written
instructions!
When riding around Winnipeg in the car of my friend Sneha, Sasha (who
speaks some English) expressed surprise that a woman would own a car.
At the end of the evening he complimented her on her driving and said
that in Tuva many women are not good drivers. :-) Sneha took it in
stride.