Bowerbird
presents
the Gate series
Featuring our old friends, Tuvan throat singers ALASH, along with some new friends!
ALASH are masters of Tuvan throat singing, a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. Masters of traditional Tuvan instruments as well as the art of throat singing, Alash are deeply committed to traditional Tuvan music and culture. At the same time, they are fans of western music. Believing that traditional music must constantly evolve, the musicians subtly infuse their songs with western elements, creating their own unique style that is fresh and new, yet true to their Tuvan musical heritage.
What does throat singing sound like? "Imagine a human bagpipe-a person who could sing a sustained low note while humming an eerie, whistle-like melody. For good measure, toss in a thrumming rhythm similar to that of a jaw harp, but produced vocally-by the same person, at the same time." -Newsweek (March 17, 2006)
Where is Tuva? Tuva (sometimes spelled Tyva) sits at the southern edge of Siberia, with Mongolia to its south. Over the centuries, Tuva has been part of Chinese and Mongolian empires, and shares many cultural ties with Mongolia. In 1944 it became part of the USSR, and until the late physicist Richard Feynman drew attention to it, was largely unknown to westerners. Tuva is now a member of the Russian Federation.
A little about Alash's friends:
Shodekeh: Professional Beat Boxer -
You expect a beatboxer to be able to rock the microphone when backing an MC. You don't expect that same ....human polyrhythm machine.... to accent female singer/songwriters with such deft subtlety. Or to match wits with jazz musicians or to solo provide the music for university dance classes or to be the poster boy for the Baltimore's most adventurous experimental music festival..... But that's exactly what beatboxer Shodekeh does. From hip hop to dance to being thrown into the music without a net. Shodekeh not only takes it all in stride but adds a palpable energetic surge to just about any musical idea - Bret McCabe, The Baltimore City Paper.
Garth Stevenson
Flying video: http://youtu.be/FEvdiF4o3x0
Garth Stevenson is a Brooklyn-based double bassist and film composer. Raised in the mountains of Western Canada, nature became his primary inspiration and the common thread between his life and music. His most recent and critically acclaimed release, Flying, is a seventy-five minute homage to a recent life-changing trip to Antarctica. Of Flying, iTunes praises, “Garth Stevenson joins the likes of Brian Eno and Sigur Rós as a practitioner of this ethereal yet accessible genre.”
Stevenson composed the film scores to: The Red Knot, A Fierce Green Fire, Young Lakota, Elon + Emmanuelle, L’Aubade.
Garth introduced his music to the yoga community at the Wanderlust Festival where he improvised during classes and lead large groups of hikers into the mountains to perform his solo music. He collaborated with teacher Elena Brower for the worlds largest yoga class in Central Park for 13 000 people and for France’s largest yoga gathering in history for over 3000 people in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Stevenson attended the Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship and received a degree is Performance and Jazz Composition. He has performed with the world-renowned Alash Ensemble from Tuva, with jazz musicians such as Joe Lovano and George Garzone, in TAQ a Polish improvised music trio, called whales to an ice breaker by imitating their sounds on his bass, and has appeared on David Letterman. Garth has performed throughout Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Antarctica.
Admission is FREE but donations are encouraged, as this is a very expensive event to produce. Help us continue to bring Alash and friends to The Rotunda!