On any post, if the link is no longer good, leave a comment if you want the music re-uploaded. As long as I still have the file, or the record, cd, or cassette to re-rip, I will gladly accommodate in a timely manner all such requests.

Slinging tuneage like some fried or otherwise soused short-order cook

20 July 2013

Kazakhstan

Re-uploaded 1/9/2023. No decryption codes needed.



Dombra Music Of Kazakhstan album was released Aug 11, 1995 on the World Music Library label. It was recorded at AOI Studio, Tokyo, June 12, 1991. It features tracks by Aitzhan Toktaganov – dombra instrumentals; Kapash Kulysheva – dombra & vocals, & Kairat Baibosynov – mouth or jew's harp.


Toktaganov’s instrumental numbers are the most melodic here, as he relies solely on his dombra for the moods & emotions. Kapash Kulysheva (Қапаш Құлышева) is a Kazakh folk singer, a soloist of the ensemble Gulder & Honored Artist of Kazakh Republic.
 


Her playing is more faster paced but combined with her natural singing voice have a great depth of their own.


Baibasynov’s finale tune is a traditional Kazakhstan folk tune. His jew’s harp playing seem almost synthesizer-like in quality…phenomenal playing. All the songs here are first rate.


Various - Dombra Music of Kazakhstan, World Music Library KICC 5199, 1995. 


Aksak Kulan
Shubar Kyuik
Konyr Kaz
Sary Ozen
Sekirtpe
Kara Zhorga
Abyl
Kosbasar
Sary Zhailau
Balzhan
Konyr - Aitzhan Toktaganov

Sulu Kokshe
Bizdin Zhakta
Apitok
Shymyr
Dunie-Au
Zamandas
Gul'deraiym - Kapash Kulysheva

Shankobyz Tune - Kairat Baibosynov

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So here’s the theme here. Dombra or Dombyra is the traditional Kazakhstani version of the lute that I have been encountering across the Middle Eastern landscape, so I am posting different interpretations of what can be done with the instrument. The first post was the traditional sounds of the dombra. This post is a modernized take on the Kazakh rural balladry.


Mamer is an ethnic Kazakh living in Xinjiang in the west of China. He once had a brief flirtation with world music fame when his alt-country group IZ drew the attention of former BBC broadcaster Andy Kershaw. This release, Eagle,  is a gentle & intriguing album blowing on the winds through the grasslands of central Asia. While centered around acoustic guitar & the dombra, the album is full of mild, undulating tunes bathed in a tastefully-configured arrangement of subtle studio effects, traditional instruments (jew's harp, ghijek, & kobuz fiddles) & a judiciously applied electric guitar. Mamer possesses a deep, even bass voice that is often double-tracked on these bucolic Kazakhstan tunes.

Highlights include “Celebration”, a dombra/banjo duet with Bela Fleck, & “Proverbs”, with a sonorous display of throat-singing by Hanggai's Ilchi. Best of all are the intertwining guitar & dombra with squawking jew's harp on the title track, & “Blackbird”, a haunting Kazakh folk sing-along with a hypnotizing melody that feels like it's been around forever.

 Mamer – Eagle, Real World, 2009. 


 Tracklist -

Eagle
Iligai
Proverbs
Celebration
Man
Kargashai
Flute Song
Mountain Wind
Blackbird
Where are You Going
Mountain Wind (Hector Zazou mix)

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Ulytau (Ұлытау), literally meaning ‘the great mountain’, is a popular Turkic neo-pagan instrumental folk metal trio from Kazakhstan. Erjan (or Yerzhan) Alimbetov on dombyra, Maxim Kichigin on guitar, & Nurgaisha Sadvakasova on violin are the core members. They have a tight group of friends as session & live-show additions to the basic trio.

Their music combines the classical sound of the violin, the Western sound of the electric guitar with the traditional sound of the two stringed dombyra, an ancient instrument from their country.


On Jumyr-Kylysh, Ulytau are: Maxim Kichigin – guitar; Erjan Alimbetov – dombyra; Roman Adonin – keyboards; Nurgaisha Sadvakasova – violin; Evgeny Sizov – bass; & Igor Djavad-Zade – drums.

 Ulytau ‎– Jumyr-Kylysh, ABK ABK006, 2006. 


Tracklist –

Adai
Winter (Four Seasons)
Kurishiler
Jumyr-Kylysh
Toccata & Fuge
Ata Tolgauy
Turkish March
Yapyr-Ai (folk song)
Teriskakpai
Kokil

Enjoy,

 
 




9 comments:

  1. I am really digging Mamer, thank you!

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  2. all three of these look great. i love dombra
    robert

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    Replies
    1. This is definitely dombra done three very different ways. I recommend all three.

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  3. Hi there brother, thanks for this exciting music and your work which I cannot overemphasise is SIMPLY FANTASTIC! I wanted to ask if you had a copy of 'Songs From The Steppes: Kazakh Music Today' and if so would you care to upload it? This has some beautiful tracks with a bowed instrument and throat-singing; equally to the point, everything else on there is just as wild!

    Salutations and more strength to your arm

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    Replies
    1. Welcome again. I left a more lengthy reply with your comment on Lebanon.

      Here is Songs from the Steppes -
      https://mega.nz/file/N74nXZpa#I-MMOB0KR5_lE8CViNumaxNQJ9J9ApJ61yDvTgzPFwE

      Enjoy, & stay in touch. Strength to you as well.

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  4. thanks for steppes. i am a sucker for trad music
    robert

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  5. nathan i finally got the steppes to download. for days it wouldn't. it would get stuck.
    but today it went. took a long time but it downloaded. thanks
    robert

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  6. These look super - any chance of a re-up? thanks FB

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    Replies
    1. All done. Refreshed & ready to go. Thanks for helping me locate dead links. Enjoy.

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