Yat-Kha
Encyclopedia
Yat-Kha is a band from Tuva
, led by vocalist/guitarist Albert Kuvezin
. Their music is a mixture of Tuvan traditional music
and rock
, featuring Kuvezin's distinctive kargyraa throat singing
style, the kanzat kargyraa.
in 1991, as a collaborative project between Kuvezin and Russian avant-garde, electronic composer Ivan Sokolovsky. The project blended traditional Tuvan folk music with post-modern rhythms and electronic effects. Kuvezin and Sokolovsky toured and played festivals, and eventually took the name “Yat-Kha,” which refers to a type of small, Central Asian zither
similar to the Mongolian yatga
and the Chinese guzheng
, which Kuvezin plays in addition to the guitar. In 1993, they released a self-titled album on the General Records label.
After the release of Yat-Kha, Kuvezin and Sokolovsky parted creative ways and Kuvezin went on to release five other albums under the name Yat-Kha with other musicians (and less of an emphasis on electronics), beginning with Yenisei Punk in 1995, with morin khuur
player Alexei Saaia (produced by Lu Edmonds). Sokolovsky issued a remastered version of the Yat-Kha album, with additional tracks, under the title Tundra's Ghosts in 1996/97.
Since 2001, they have been performing a live soundtrack to Vsevolod Pudovkin
's 1928 silent film Storm Over Asia
. They may release a DVD of this version of the film with Reality Film.
In 2010, the project released a new album, Poets and Lighthouses, recorded on the Scottish island of Jura with producer Giles Perring. It reached Number 1 on the World Music Charts Europe (WMCE) in January 2011.
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
, led by vocalist/guitarist Albert Kuvezin
Albert Kuvezin
Albert Kuvezin is a Tuvan guitarist and throat singer.Kuvezin was one of the founding members of the Tuvan folk ensemble Huun-Huur-Tu, and is the leader of the Tuvan folk/rock/electro/post punk band Yat-Kha...
. Their music is a mixture of Tuvan traditional music
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, featuring Kuvezin's distinctive kargyraa throat singing
Overtone singing
Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.The partials of a sound wave made by the human voice can be...
style, the kanzat kargyraa.
Biography
Yat-Kha was founded in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1991, as a collaborative project between Kuvezin and Russian avant-garde, electronic composer Ivan Sokolovsky. The project blended traditional Tuvan folk music with post-modern rhythms and electronic effects. Kuvezin and Sokolovsky toured and played festivals, and eventually took the name “Yat-Kha,” which refers to a type of small, Central Asian zither
Zither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
similar to the Mongolian yatga
Yatga
The yatga is a traditional Mongolian plucked zither, related to the Chinese guzheng.Yatga may vary widely in size, tuning, and number of bridges and strings; The body is a long wooden box, one end of which is angled downward. The performer plucks the strings with the fingernails of the right...
and the Chinese guzheng
Guzheng
The guzheng or "gu zheng", also called zheng is a Chinese plucked zither. It has 18-23 or more strings and movable bridges....
, which Kuvezin plays in addition to the guitar. In 1993, they released a self-titled album on the General Records label.
After the release of Yat-Kha, Kuvezin and Sokolovsky parted creative ways and Kuvezin went on to release five other albums under the name Yat-Kha with other musicians (and less of an emphasis on electronics), beginning with Yenisei Punk in 1995, with morin khuur
Morin khuur
The morin khuur is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified...
player Alexei Saaia (produced by Lu Edmonds). Sokolovsky issued a remastered version of the Yat-Kha album, with additional tracks, under the title Tundra's Ghosts in 1996/97.
Since 2001, they have been performing a live soundtrack to Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor who developed influential theories of montage...
's 1928 silent film Storm Over Asia
Storm Over Asia
Storm Over Asia is a 1928 Russian film directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin, written by Osip Brik, Ivan Novokshonov and starring Valéry Inkijinoff. It forms part of Pudovkin's "revolutionary trilogy", alongside Mother and The End of St...
. They may release a DVD of this version of the film with Reality Film.
In 2010, the project released a new album, Poets and Lighthouses, recorded on the Scottish island of Jura with producer Giles Perring. It reached Number 1 on the World Music Charts Europe (WMCE) in January 2011.
Discography
Albums:- Priznak Greyushii Byedi (1991)
- Khanparty (1992)
- Yat-Kha (1993)
- Yenisei Punk (1995)
- Tundra's Ghosts (1996/97) - remastered version of Yat-Kha released by Ivan Sokolovsky)
- Dalai Beldiri (1999)
- Aldyn Dashka (2000)
- Bootleg (2001, live)
- tuva.rock (2003)
- Re-Covers (2005)
- Bootleg 2005 (2005, live)
- Poets and Lighthouses (2010)
Current
- Albert KuvezinAlbert KuvezinAlbert Kuvezin is a Tuvan guitarist and throat singer.Kuvezin was one of the founding members of the Tuvan folk ensemble Huun-Huur-Tu, and is the leader of the Tuvan folk/rock/electro/post punk band Yat-Kha...
(vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, Throat SingingOvertone singingOvertone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.The partials of a sound wave made by the human voice can be...
, GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Bass GuitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Chanzy, KhomusJew's harpThe Jew's harp, jaw harp, mouth harp, Ozark harp, trump or juice harp, is thought to be one of the oldest musical instruments in the world; a musician apparently playing it can be seen in a Chinese drawing from the 4th century BC...
, Yat-Kha) - Evgeny "Zhenya" Tkachov (drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, PercussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
) - "Scipio" (Bass GuitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
)
Past
- Radik Tiuliush (vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, Throat SingingOvertone singingOvertone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.The partials of a sound wave made by the human voice can be...
, Morin KhuurMorin khuurThe morin khuur is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified...
, IgilIgilAn igil is a two-stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The top of the sound box may be covered with skin or a thin wooden plate...
) - Sailyk Ommun (vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, Yat-Kha) - Makhmud Skripaltschchikov (Bass GuitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) - Aldyn-ool Sevek (vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, Throat SingingOvertone singingOvertone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.The partials of a sound wave made by the human voice can be...
, Morin KhuurMorin khuurThe morin khuur is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified...
, IgilIgilAn igil is a two-stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The top of the sound box may be covered with skin or a thin wooden plate...
) - Alexei Saaia (vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, Morin khuurMorin khuurThe morin khuur is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified...
, Bass GuitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) - Aias-ool Danzyryn (vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, Chanzy) - Ivan Sokolovsky (SynthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, PercussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
)
Appearing on Poets and Lighthouses with Albert Kuvezin (Voice, Acoustic Guitar)
- Simon Edwards (Acoustic Bass Guitar, Double Bass, Marimbula, Mbira, Appalachian Dulcimer)
- Giles Perring (Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Harmonium, Backing Vocals, Drums, Percussion)
- Sarah Homer (Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Recorder)
- Melanie PappenheimMelanie PappenheimMelanie Pappenheim is an English soprano singer and composer, notable for her vocal work with various British cross-disciplinary composers, with avant-garde theatre companies and on soundtracks .-Contemporary music:Pappenheim is a frequent collaborator with contemporary composer-performers Simon...
(Backing Vocals) - Lu Edmonds (Cumbus)
- Neil Cameron (Scottish Small Pipes)
Awards
- 1991 recognized by Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, one of the international judges at the first Voices of Asia Festival in AlmatyAlmatyAlmaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...
, KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe... - 1995 French RFI "Decouvertes Est" prize for Yenisei Punk
- 1999 German Critic's Prize for Dalai Beldiri
- 2002 BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
"Award for World Music"