VIDEO: Natia Todua - Debut Album Production

"Auch wenn sie nun nicht mehr wöchentlich im Fernsehen auftaucht, ist sie ihrem Motto treu geblieben: No music, no life – Kein Leben ohne Musik. Ausruhen kommt für die 22-Jährige nicht infrage. Nicht mal Zeit für den Führerschein bleibt, das Auto als Voice-Siegprämie hat sie ungefahren verkauft. Stattdessen nahm sie ein Stipendium von der Stiftung Starke in Berlin an. In einer Villa in Grunewald voller Künstler konnte sie dadurch günstig ein Zimmer beziehen, ein Netzwerk aufbauen und sich musikalisch inspirieren und weiterentwickeln.

Bejubelt wurden auch ihre Auftritte auf der Frankfurter Buchmesse, wo sie das Gastland Georgien vertrat, oder auch bei der Kommission der Europäischen Union in Georgien, wo sich vor Begeisterung plötzlich der EU-Botschafter selbst ans Schlagzeug setzte. Der Auftritt sowie ein Versöhnungslied mit Video über Georgien und Abchasien brachte das Gerücht auf, dass sie wieder in ihre Heimat gezogen ist. Keine Panik: „Ich bleibe in Deutschland“, lacht Natia.

Das Stipendium in Berlin dauert noch bis zum Sommer an, dazwischen stehen Konzert-Projekte mit Sponsoren an. Inzwischen hat sie auch das Management gewechselt, um dem großen Ziel näher zu kommen: ein Album mit eigenen Stücken. Bis dahin müssen allerdings noch die bestehenden Verträge von Fachleuten durchsortiert werden, um die Rechte an künftigen Songs zu sichern.

Im nächsten Jahr wird sie vor allem in Süddeutschland unterwegs sein. Gerade hat sie im Karlsdorfer Kangaroo-Studio für ein Wohnzimmer-Konzert in Minden geprobt und sich eine erfahrene Band zusammengestellt. Mit Gitarrist Joerg Dudys (Edo Zanki, Jule Neigel, Nena), Keyboarder Zlatko „Jimmy“ Kresic (Midge Ure, Alice Cooper, Ian Gillan), Bassist Jekko Stjepanovic (Relax, Bobby Kimball) und Schlagzeugerin Steffi Sachsenmeier (Joja Wendt, Superstrings) will sie weitere Projekte verwirklichen – und solange Natias Gastfamilie Schmitt wieder die komplette Band mit Maishühnchen bekocht wie vergangene Woche nach der Probe, könnte Bruchsal durchaus zum Musikstandort avancieren."

Der ganze Text von Armin Herberger hier >> bnn.de

LIVE-RECORDING: "Be Yourself" by Nestan Bagration-Davitashvili

Nestan Bagration-Davitashvili: Voc, Piano, Synth, Beatbox
Live recording in Vox Ton analog recording studio Berlin by Francesco Donadello
Video: George Charkviani

Nestan Bagration-Davitashvili

Pianist, singer, composer
Growing up in a famous Georgian artist Ancestry royal family, was faced early on with the pianist in the world of culture, has many inspirations take in, process, and continued to develop artistically quickly.

First performances at age 5 years. She studied piano in Tbilisi, Georgia at the music school.

At the age of 16 you got the special prize "Discovery of Festival" at the Festival 'Margarita 96'

As a scholarship student of the Berklee College of Music in the U.S., she composed the first works.

Since 2007, she received a scholarship from the Yehudi Menuhin launched "live music now" and in 2009 Fellow of a DAAD scholarship. Critics wrote about her: "If the pianist Nestan Bagration-Davitashvili occurs, we see how" music borders "s passed by our ears, how to approach seemingly different genres of music at the end, come together, or also be attributed to their common ground. Nestan Bagration-Davitashvilis music is an open-hearted commitment to the origins of mankind. It needs no words, phrases or a specific language. Alone satisfy her syllables to express all human emotions of joy and pain. But one thing will lead like a red thread through the concert tonight: the highest intensity of her presentation.

"Their music does not quote, it is new. It takes in everything around us and includes it in a new way: noise, sound, music. Their energy comes from the stomach and catapulted himself through the heart and intellect. She sings, reads, plays … " And it is the comprehensive training and mental penetration because, Nestan Bagration-Davitashvili knows exactly what paths are going in the interpretation and music scene.

Your analysis skills are overwhelmed their intuition in every way. It has to develop in recent years, their own personal style that can be difficult to define. Thus, their interpretations are genre independent today, marked by high, stirring Intensitet. Currently lives and works Nestan Bagration-Davitashvili in Berlin, Germany

soundcloud.com/nestanbagrationdavitashvili
nestanbagrationdavitashvili.com
vimeo.com/nestan
More here: kulturgeorgien.com

VIDEO: Live@wilight - Nika Machaidze (Nikakoi) & Gogi Dzodzuashvili 2015

Nika Machaidze and Gogi Dzodzuashvili's live on the birthday of Artarea artarea.tv

POLYPHONY: The Song Hunters - Suppression and Survival. By Sam Lee via @BBCRadio4

Podcast >> bbc.co.uk
 
Singer and song collector Sam Lee travels to Tbilisi to explore the ancient polyphonic folk songs and sacred chants of Georgia. He discovers a nation where singing is in the blood.

With some of Georgia's finest singers and musicologists as his guides, Sam is introduced to the ritualistic folk songs that are said to the control the weather and even cure the sick. He is invited to a feast, high on a mountainside above Tbilisi, where he meets the Chamgelianis - a singing family from the remote region of Svaneti who are keeping the tradition of age-old pre-Christian folk songs alive.

At the beautiful Kashveti Church in the heart of Tbilisi, Sam meets singer and ethno-musicologist John Graham who introduces him to the liturgical chanting tradition. These orthodox Christian chants feature sacrosanct melodies that are said to have been passed down by God and transmitted orally over the centuries.

Bordered by powerful neighbours including Russia and Turkey, Georgia has been attacked and invaded persistently over the centuries, its traditional songs suppressed. Sam learns that, under Soviet rule, sacred chanting was banned in Georgia and chanters threatened with exile and even death. Practitioners were forced to go underground from the early 1920s.

The tradition might have died out entirely were it not for the efforts of a single monk who buried manuscripts containing the forbidden sacred songs in order to keep them safe. Many years later, following the end of the Soviet stranglehold, the buried manuscripts were rediscovered and became the backbone of a chant revival that has seen Georgian singing spread around the world.

Presenter: Sam Lee
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4

LEIPZIG: Georgischer Singeabend mit Levan Bitarovi am 5. Dezember

[facebook.com] Hallo Leipziger Gesangsfans, am Mittwoch, 5.12. gibt es die nicht alltägliche Gelegenheit, georgische traditionelle Lieder selbst zu singen und direkt von der Quelle zu lernen.

Unter Anleitung des georgischen Songmasters Levan Bitarovi, Mitsänger beim Ensemble Adilei, werden wir an dem Abend ca. drei Lieder erlernen und gemeinsam singen. Georgische Gesänge sind faszinierend - durch ihre ganz eigenen Harmonieverläufe, ihre innere Strahlkraft. UND: Sie laden Dich in besonderer Weise dazu ein, sich mit den anderen Singenden zu verbinden und gegenseitig zu unterstützen.

Sei herzlich eingeladen zu einer ganz besonderen sängerischen Erfahrung.

Zeit: Mi 5.12. um 18.30 bis 21.15
Ort: Leipzig-Südvorstadt, Kantstraße, die genaue Anschrift teile ich bei Anmeldung mit.
Kosten: EUR 25-30 nach Selbsteinschätzung
Info: c/o Inessa mailto:sangundklang@posteo.de

Über Levan: Levan Bitarovi (28) ist seit seiner Kindheit zutiefst mit der georgischen traditionellen Musik verbunden. Heute bringt er diese Art des Singens seinen Landsleuten und interessierten Ausländern näher. Er unterrichtet in Georgien und anderswo - in Deutschland, Holland, Italien und den USA. Mit viel Humor und Engagement gelingt es ihm, die georgische Folklore und ihre Besonderheiten erlebbar und singbar zu machen. mit einen tieferen Einblick in diese wunderbare Musik und Kultur.

Levan ist Mitsänger im 9-köpfigen georgischen Männer-Ensemble Adilei. Die Sänger der Gruppe sind der jüngeren Generation georgischer Volkssänger zuzurechnen, die das musikalische Erbe des Landes fortführen.

Hier findet ihr 2 Videos von Levans Workshops:

Aghmartuli - Workshop in Lakhushdi, Svaneti/Georgien



Maspindzelsa mkhiarulsa – Workshop in Treviso, Italien



 Adilei Goes to America! #AdileiUSA

GEORGIAN POLYPHONY: Pearls of Georgian Chant / Artem Erkomaishvili

In 1966, Georgian folklorists, Prof. Grigol Chkhikvadze and Kakhi Rosebashvili invited the accomplished chanter Artem Erkomaishvili to Tbilisi State Conservatoire for the recording session of old Georgian sacred hymns.

The recording was performed with two tape-recorders in the so-called 'combined' manner. The first-voice part was recorded on tape-recorder and Artem tuned the second and bass parts to the top voice which was recorded with the second tape-recorder.

This way the unique recordings of all three parts of about 107 chants performed by the 79-year-old Artem survived; the recordings were cleaned, processed and the voice-parts were mixed as part of the joint project of Georgian Chanting Foundation and Tbilisi State Conservatoire.

The CD includes 37 selected chants.

℗ Tbilisi State Conservatoire, 1966
© Georgian Chanting Foundation, 2016
© Ilia Jgharkava, 2013-2016




My Grandfather, Artem Erkomaishvili (DVD and CD Included)

Authors: Anzor Erkomaishvili (Art Director of Rustavi, State Academic Ensemble of Georgian Folk Song and Dance, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia)

Book Description:
In the book My Grandfather, Artem Erkomaishvili, the musical biography of the great Georgian singer-chanter Artem Erkomaishvili is described.

He was born to a traditional family of singers in 1887. He finished school for chanters and became a professional chanter thereafter (he knew more than 2,000 hymns). After the October Revolution, chanting was forbidden in Georgia. Artem formed a choir in Batumi that won in the first Olympiad of the Republic. Since that time, Artem Erkomaishvili’s choirs have always deserved the highest appraisals.

Though Artem experienced a difficult life that was quite painful and tragic, he channeled his talent in order to persevere. The book also comprises quite a few references about old singers-chanters.

This book informs readers about old traditions and customs like the Georgian New Year, Christmas, and Easter holidays. It also contains information on the rules for performing the traditional songs “Batonebo” (a healing song), “Alilo” (a Christmas song), “Elesa” (a work song), etc.

The book is also interesting in terms of its ethnographic point of view. Cultural activities such as tree cutting, wine-making, the distillation of spirits like Russian vodka, Japanese sake, and Georgian araki, the raising of the silkworms, or the carving of the chonguri (traditional Georgian musical instrument) are described and detailed within this monograph.

The musical epoch of Artem Erkomaishvili’s period, which was full of severe repressions under the Communist regime echoes throughout the pages. Church hymns, traditional songs, and anything connected to this question was strictly banned. Artem Erkomaishvili and his followers saved Georgian songs chants at their own risk. It is Artem’s outstanding contribution to the recognition of the Georgian polyphony as a masterpiece by UNESCO. The book will act as a detailed reference for folklorists, and lovers of Georgian folk music will enjoy it very much. (Nova)

Table of Contents:
Preface
Chapter 1. At Grandfather Artem’s Grave
Chapter 2. How I Remember Batumi
Chapter 3. The History of the Erkomaishvilis
Chapter 4. First Gramophone Records
Chapter 5. Artem Erkomaishvili at the Chant School
Chapter 6. Philimon Qoridze
Chapter 7. Artem Erkomaishvili’s Biography (His Own Handwriting)
Chapter 8. The First Group Festival in Kutaisi
Chapter 9. Artem Erkomaishvili’s Group in Leningrad
Chapter 10. Tbilisi Festival (1937)
Chapter 11. Artem Erkomaishvili’s Group on Festivals (1934-1941)
Chapter 12. How I Remember Gigo Erkomaishvili
Chapter 13. Recording of Chants in Ozurgeti (1949)
Chapter 14. How I Was Baptized
Chapter 15. VI Republican Festival
Chapter 16. Artem, the Head of Ozurgeti Choir
Chapter 17. Brothers Artem, Ladiko, and Anania Erkomaishvili
Chapter 18. Gigo Erkomaishvili’s Family
Chapter 19. Grigol Berdzenishvili
Chapter 20. Chanters Artem Erkomaishvili, Varlam Simonishvili and Dimitri Patarava
Chapter 21. Artem Erkomaishvili’s Family Tragedy
Chapter 22. Anzor Erkomaishvili in Tbilisi
Chapter 23. Giorgi Nakashidze
Chapter 24. Artem Erkomaishvili in Makvaneti
Chapter 25. Table Rules in Guria
Chapter 26. Ceremonial and Ritual Songs in Guria
Chapter 27. Nadi and Naduri (Work) Songs
Chapter 28. Artem Agriculturist
Chapter 29. Artem Erkomaishvili a Virtuosic Performer on the Chonguri
Chapter 30. Artem’s Relatives
Chapter 31. The Last Period of my Grandfather’s Life
Chapter 32. Artem Erkomaishvili’s Decease
Chapter 33. The Main Moments from Artem Erkomaishvili's Creative Life
Chapter 34. At the Tomb of Artem Erkomaishvili
Index

Series: Fine Arts, Music and Literature
Binding: ebook
Pub. Date: 2018 - 1st Quarter
ISBN: 978-1-53612-638-9
Status: AV

Further links:
GEORGIAN FOLK Artem Erkomaishvili [alazani.ge]
Analysis of the Tbilisi State Conservatory Recordings of Artem Erkomaishvili in 1966 [researchgate.net]

VIDEO: Trio Devlira, Chechen music from Pankisi.

Trio Devlira: Mariam and Markha from Pankisi and Yannick from France.

The Chechen and Tush moods of DEVLIRA are women's love songs for men, men for women, songs of mountain and animals, songs of Sufi trance.

The Chechen repertoire is a happy mix of oriental music, walks of the bards of the Caucasus, from the Slavic melancholy to the rhythm of the Mongolian rides!

The Tush repertoire come from this small isolated area of Georgia, in the heart of the great Caucasus, between Chechnya and Daghestan.

Mariam Machalikashvili: singing, Balalaïka
Malka Machalikashvili: singing, Garmon, Balalaïka
Yannick Loyer: singing, tambour







more Songs: sounddmafia.audio/play/devlira-shenma-survilma-damlia-georgian-song

VIDEO: Georgian and Corsican Polyphony. Similarity.

This how Georgian and Corsican Polyphonies are similar.

Pre-Indoeuropean peoples have a lot in common. If Georgian and Basque languages have similar words and grammatic bonds, then here we see Georgian and Corsican polyphony sound similar to each other. As of Corsican language being Indoeuropean then it never means that Corsicans themselves are Indoeuropeans, since the tribe of Corsos , their ancestors have non-Indoeuropean roots.

VIDEO: Georgian Polyphonic Singing - Pheasant's Tears Wine Bar, Signaghi, Georgia

Link to the location: www.pheasantstears.com

At Pheasant’s Tears, we produce artisanal natural wines according to ancient Georgian traditions.

We start by growing Georgian varietals in rare terroir using organic principles to produce luscious, healthy grapes. All our wines are fermented and aged in qvevri, clay vessels lined with organic beeswax and buried in the earth. We ferment using naturally occurring yeasts and painstaking attention to achieve wines of character and sophistication deeply rooted in the richness of the Georgian soil and Georgian culture.

Our name comes from a Georgian tale in which the hero claims that only a wine beyond measure could make a pheasant cry tears of joy. With each bottle that leaves our hands we strive to meet that ancient standard.

PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO: Zikr in Pankisi Valley - Chechen enclave in northern Georgia. By Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak

Sufi of Pankisi Valley. The women gather to sing, praise Allah and pray for peace. Their message is expressed in an explicit way by their charismatic leader and organizer, Badi : Make love not war.

You can see more here: www.pankisi.org

This is another face of islam in Caucasus, you dont see it too often , not so much as terrorist accusation by Russian regime, self fullfilling prophecy. Angry young men, their culture ridiculed, their freedom taken away, turn to fundametalism. Wahhabism is getting sponsored by Gulf countries, by Saudis, but these women, those religious communities refuse to believe wahhabist propaganda that their old traditions of Sufism are heresy. They preach peace.


Chechen sufi zikr from Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak on Vimeo.

Zikr in Pankisi Valley - Chechen ladies from Pankisi Valley performing Sufi zikr ritual , singing message of love to God and other people, and asking for peace in Caucasus.

MUSIC: Georgian Chanting Foundation, Tbilisi, Georgia

Fund activities are aimed at the traditional song-chanting to support and promote the development of folk art in Georgia and abroad.



more:
facebook.com/GeorgianChanting
youtube.com/GeorgianChanting

GREAT SONGS FROM KHESURETI: Teona Qumsiashvili from Georgia (soundcloud.com)

more: facebook.com/teonaqumsiashviliofficial

GEORGIAN SINGER: Ohne Dich- Rammstein (Tutarchela Childrens Choir, COVER)

Tutarchela Childrens Choir singing "Ohne Dich" by Rammstein
Sololist: Mariam Baratashvili

PORTRAITS: Tiflis - Leben in einer neuen Zeit. Von Lisa Fuhr (issuu.com/icon-verlag)

(issuu.com/icon-verlag) Tbilisi – Life in a New Era – 34 Portraits

Interviews in photographs and text conducted in Tiflis with 34 women and men from various social strata, age groups, ethnic and religious communities. Because the subjects are inter-generational some still bear the mark of the Soviet era while others can hardly remember that time. Prospects for many have radically changed, when looking back, often for the better. In some cases people have had to abandon the future they had envisioned completely and reinvent their lives entirely. The portraits presented here show individuals in their immediate surroundings at work and at home. 

in german >>>

Georgian Singer: Sophie Villy - Dress (2014) Album Sampler

A selection from the second album "Dress" by Sophie Villy.
Out on May 27, 2014. Available from itunes and spotify.
facebook.com/sophievillyband
sophievilly.com
soundcloud.com/sophievillymusic

1.Position
2.Who
3.I Told You
4.Dude
5.They Worry
6.Man In The Mist
7.Quiet Again
8.Drift Around
9.Connected
10.His Grandma
11.Need To Share
12.Whatever

Music and Lyrics by Sophie Villy.

Sophie Villy - Vocal, Guitar, Piano, Organ
Dima Zinchenko - Drums, Percussion, Organ
Levan Mikaberidze - Bass
Stas Kononov - Guitar
Zura Dzagnidze - Guitar
Elene Jimshitashvili - Cello
Strings - Just Quartet (GE)
George Gabrielashvili - Trumpet

Recorded and mixed by George Gvarjaladze "Gvaji" at Georgian Film Studios in Tbilisi.
Mastered by Ron Boustead @ Resolutionmastering, Los Angeles, CA.
Produced by Sophie Villy and Gvaji.
Artwork photo by Sergey Sarakhanov.
Design by Vaniko Katamashvili.

More Info on release date.

All Rights Reserved.
2014 Sophie Villy

+++

NEW ALBUM "DRESS" COMING OUT IN MAY 2014!!! Single "Position" now in heavy rotation on KCRW (US) and also featured on BBC2.

In her 23 Sophie Villy is well known for her unique performing style. Minimalistic arrangements, vintage guitar's distinctive twang and soulful timbre of voice open up another deep world, full of grace and intelligence, nurtured in the bohemian quarters of Georgian culture. Artists were common visitors to Sophie's childhood home in Tbilisi, they undoubtedly left their mark. We hear, as a result, both the voices of modern neighbors and the echoes of twelfth-century poet Shota Rustaveli. Grounded in that multifaceted heritage, Sophie's debut album "Mother Fish" now takes a wide range of private stories to the outside world. The singer and her catalog are one and the same: wholly sincere and full of incisive observations.. You can feel a kind of 'eastern' power, even spirituality, within her work. At times it seems to adopt the illusionary forms of mirage: if you can see or hear Sophie - even once - you'll be unable to forget her.
Sophie Villy's new single "Position" is one of her most acclaimed songs, released after her first US tour (2012). "Position" is louder than any demonstrations and revolutionary speech.

Sophie whispers to all the people to be strong and wiser, to stay away from all the dirty political games, stay free inside of your heart. Sophie Villy is an author of soundtracks for French, Georgian, American and Ukrainian films.
"Her voice is transcending; it sounds worldly and magically. She has a unique, yet common spirit." Richard Galliano

VIDEO: Chermen - Karlo Kelekhsashvili

Karlo Kelekhsashvili from Pichkhovan - Georgia, sing an traditional Ossetian song, which is nearly 80 years old. This song is a very famous song in Ossetia.

VIDEO: Katie Melua 'Ketevan' album teaser (youtube.com)

Katie's sixth studio album 'Ketevan' is released across Europe between 13th and 20th September 2013.

www.katiemelua.com
www.facebook.com/katiemeluamusic
twitter.com/katiemelua

The album is available to pre-order from a number of resellers, including:
-Our new Katie Melua webstore (Vinyl, CD & download available - pre-orders will receive Katie's autograph - international order accepted): katiemelua.tmstor.es

Amazon: amzn.to

iTunes (with instant download of 'I Will Be There'): smarturl.it/Ketevan

CLASSIC: Teona Dvali - Bellini "La Sonnambula"

Aria di Amina "Ah, non credea mirarti" 2 Febbraio 2011 in Tbilisi (Georgia) 

more: youtube.com/Teo Dvali

BBC: Georgia's polyphonic singers take to the hills (bbc.co.uk)

(bbc.co.uk) Traditional polyphonic singing is one of the Georgia's biggest cultural exports.

Some of the songs go back to the eighth century but Unesco has warned such traditional music is now threatened by an exodus of people from the rural areas and the growing popularity of pop music.

Rajan Datar joined a Georgian choir and team of dancers on a trip to one of Europe's highest villages and even made an attempt at polyphonic singing himself.

VIDEO: Musical Performance: TSU ART at TEDxTbilisi (youtube.com)

(TSU ART) combines contemporary music, innovative home-made instruments and traditional Georgian polyphonic singing to create a unique cultural performance. TSU Art is composed of students from universities throughout Tbilisi and professional singers.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)