Événement

Alash

We are honored that Alash wanted to return to the Odeon - this is a very special band playing incredible music. Alash utilizes a branch of musical skill the West is generally unfamiliar with, and these are some of the finest proprietors of it.

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. They are world-class musicians, integrating western influences such as Sun Ra and Jimi Hendrix. The group records and tours with Bela Fleck & The Flecktones on a semi-regular basis, further testifying to their immense talent.

If you're perplexed by throat singing, don't worry. The technique allows the vocalist to spread out their voice into two, three, occasionally four different overtone pitches that can be controlled while the lowest pitch continues on a drone. The Tuvan tradition of throat singing goes back centuries. It sprang out of the Tuvans' connections to the natural world, so the various styles of throat singing correspond to sounds in nature. Also featured in their performances is a uniquely Tuvan instrument known as the igil, a bowed two stringed instrument similar to a cello.

Band manager and interpreter Sean Quirk makes sure to share the general mood of the lyrical elements to the audience. The naturally atmospheric and pure tonal tendencies of the music leaves the meaning of each song hard to guess for most audiences. We might think they were about space and the universe or something equally vague and cosmic. Quirk lets us know that most of these songs are about "good horses and beautiful women". After all it's just folk music!

"After (every song), that audience erupted with applause almost more excitedly than they had for the Flecktones, each time breaking a spell with ecstatic, almost surprised, glee." Denver Post