Moldova is another country with an unresolved border dispute. A narrow sliver of land in the east of its officially internationally recognised territory, between the river Dniester and the Ukrainian border, is controlled by the de facto country of Transnistria or, as they like to be known, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. They have all the bits making them look like a fully fledged country, such as their own elected administration, currency, military, flag and national anthem, yet they are not recognised by any member of the UN, so are dependent on Moldova for access to the outside world and Russia for military and economic aid. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe defines the region as under military occupation by Russia. To be fair to them mind, they did split from Moldova, before Moldova declared its own independence, so as such has never been under Moldovan control. Apparently it is possible to visit the territory, which would be quite a cool thing to do visiting a country that doesn't exist.
Transnistrian Parliament. Photo credit: By Донор - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27580045
In the interest of completeness I have truffled out a musical act from the region, the worldbeat/hip-hop trio DoReDoS, who were formed 2011 in the northern town of Rîbniţa. They actually represented Moldova at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. This is their 2022 single One in a Million:
The rest of Moldova is culturally and linguistically the twin of Romania. The official language of Moldova is in fact Romanian and there was even talk of the 2 countries uniting at one stage. It is however one of the poorest countries in Europe. We start our journey through Moldova proper in the small commune of Pepeni in the north of the country where folk singer Nicolae Glib was born in 1949. He is the most popular living folk singer in Moldova and has gathered many awards and prestigious titles. His most famous song is Moldovean ca mine nu-i (There's no Moldovan such as myself), which features on a 2019 self-titled compilation album of his work:
The rest of the time in Moldova we are hanging around the capital Chişinău. Nearly a third of the population lives there and it hosts an annual wine festival in October, which sounds fun. Moldova after all is one of the cradles of winemaking with a history dating back to 3000 BCE. We start with something probably more authentic from folk singer and ethno-musicologist Cristina Godoroja. I don't know much about her, but she has just released her debut album in 2023 called Ciobănaş Cu Oile: Songs from Moldova and Romania. All the songs are sung a Capello and this one is called Down the Dniester to the Valley:
Trans-Balkan band Drobinska's link to Moldova is rather tentative. The band is actually based in St. Petersburg in Russia and the members are from Russia, Ukraine and Palestine, but it was founded by Oleg Drobinski, who studied and discovered Balkan wedding music in Chişinău, before travelling other parts of the Balkan peninsula. Here's a track from their 2004 album Cuie de Cirnat called Dumi mi, duni:
Folk-rock band Zdob şiZdub were established in 2011 in Chişinău and have already represented Moldova 3 times at the Eurovision song context. They mix their fun Balkan rhythms with rock and punk elements. Here's a fun video of their 2021 single Trenulețul (The Train):
And that's it already from Moldova. Next, like Zdop siZdub, we're heading into Romania. As usual, you can follow my virtual progress on my Tripline map.
Next stop on our virtual journey through Ukraine is the industrial city of Zaporizhzhia, famous for having the largest nuclear power station in the country and currently under Russian occupation, which is cause for concern.
Photo credit: By Ralf1969 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7343361
This is where Guitarist Estas Tonne was born in 1975. He is of Jewish and German ancestry, but now lives a nomadic lifestyle, moving from place to place all around the world performing at concerts, on the streets and at festivals. He calls himself a modern-day troubadour and is classically trained and plays his own finger-picking style inspired by classical and Roma styles often on a 10-string acoustic guitar. Here is a tune called The Song of the Golden Dragon, which features on his 2023 album Anthology Vol. III, which is currently available for free on Bandcamp:
Next we are heading to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, but internationally still considered a part of Ukraine. Crimea has a long and complicated history, ruled by many different powers and even enjoying periods of independence. The original inhabitants of the peninsula were the Crimean Tatars, a Turkic ethnic group with their own language and mostly adhering to Islam. Throughout the various occupations of the region they were often discriminated against and in 1944 most of them were forcibly removed by Stalin and resettled mostly in Centra Asia. Once the peninsula became an autonomous region of an independent Ukraine, the local government was very much pro-Russian, understandable in the context of the native population having been mostly evicted and replaced by Russian speakers.
In that context the 2 artists that I have chosen to represent Crimean Tatars were actually not born there. We start with the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest winner Jamala, whose real name is Susana Jamaladinova. She was born in 1983 in Kygyzstan to a Crimean Tatar father and an Armenian mother, who were both musical. In 1989 they did move back to Crimea, where Jamala's musical career started at the age of 9 and where she attended the Simferopol Music College. She also trained in opera, but sadly decided to make her career in relatively bland pop. At the supposedly non-political 2016 Eurovision she caused a stir with her song 1944, obviously referring to the year when the Crimean Tatars were forced to leave their homeland by the Soviets. Apparently she is now 'wanted' by Russia, presumably not to represent them at Eurovision. Here's the song that gave her international fame:
Jazz guitarist Enver Izmailov is another Crimean Tatar who was born in exile in Uzbekistan in 1955. He incorporates Crimean Tatar folk elements in his composition, often using typical time signatures. He plays his custom-made 3 necked electrical guitar tapping the neck of the guitar with his fingers. Here is a tune called Yalta, after the famous seaside resort, from his 1999 album Minaret:
Next we are heading to the Podolia region which covers parts of western Ukraine and northern Moldova. The region has historically been a melting pot for various ethnic groups, including Ukrainians, Jews, Moldovans and other Balkans. Hence the traditional music of the region is a blend of all those influences. Brass band Konsonans Retro was formed by members of the Baranovsky family in the town of Kodyma right on the border to Moldova. Their music has more than just a hint of Balkan wedding music and klezmer to it. Here's a tune from their 2011 album A Podolian Affair called Moldavskaya Hora:
That's it from Ukraine, next we are heading for a quick visit into Moldova. Meanwhile, as usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.
We arrive in Kyiv on our virtual trip, formerly better known with it's Russian pronunciation of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine and where the famous chicken dish originated.
We start with the folk music quartet DakhaBrakha, who have garnered quite a large audience abroad and have somewhat become international ambassadors for Ukraine. They were established in 2004 as a live theatre crew for an avantgarde theatre company the Dakh Contemporary Arts Centre, their name being a play on words of the the name of the centre Dakh meaning roof and Dakha (give) and Brakha (take). They perform Ukrainian songs combined with various other world music influences in what they call 'ethnic chaos', dressed in elaborate costumes. I first came across them at the NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, and have been hooked on their music ever since. It's so unique and full of joy!
One of the members of DakhaBrakha is also a member of all female dark cabaret troupe Dakh Daughters, also associated with the Dakh theatre. They have moved further away from tradition towards a poetry of anger to the rhythms of drums of war, with lyrics in various languages and often based on texts by classical authors. Here is a song from their 2021 album Make Up called Rosy, based on Shakespeare's Sonnet 35:
Music producer Pavel Lenchenko, aka CEPASA from Kyiv produces electronic music that sits somewhere between downtempo, house and techno music rooted in Ukraine. Synths, drum machine, guitar and his voice create a moody soundscape. Here is an ode to his home city Kyiv with some nice shots of the city from his 2022 album Niby Chaiky:
Fusion project Bleu are a coming together in 2022 of Ukrainian singers Borys Cholewka and Sophie Tabakov with a group of Moroccan musicians playing the likes of oud and darbukka, plus Belgian accordionist Maurice Blanchy. Their repertoire consists of traditional Slavonic songs from the wider region, rearranging them to suit the unusual instrumentation. The result is their 2022 album Tchekala, which was recorded in Belgium. Here is a stirring song from the album called Kozak:
Ukrainian folk ensemble Bozhychi were established in 1999 and are very traditional in outlook. They went on expeditions all around the country including a canoe trip up the rivers to unearth dance tunes and songs from the villages. They now advise the Ukrainian parliament in matters of youth policy and culture. Here are some extracts from a live performance in 2014:
That's it from Kyiv, next we are going to explore the rest of Ukraine, including some of the currently occupied territories. Meanwhile you can follow my virtual journey on my Tripline map.
Ukraine has obviously entered the international conscience in the last few years due to the ongoing war. Whilst I set out this blog to try and maintain neutrality, it is clear for everyone to see that this "Special Military Operation" is a war of aggression, and is therefore unjustified, but being a pacifist, I can't justify any war.
As on this blog I have decided to format the music into countries, which already doesn't work with many fusions across borders, and borders are never and have never been static but change all the time, I have then the task of deciding where I draw the borders for the purpose of this blog. I have decided to go along with the pre 2014 borders to define Ukraine, which are still recognised by the majority of UN nations.
So, to continue our journey due south from Minsk in Belarus on our last stop, ignoring any tensions between these 2 countries, we hop across the border to the northern Ukrainian village of Nedilyshche, where legendary folk singer Nina Matviienko was born in 1947. Starting off as a copyist, then a crane operator she went on to study philology then entering the Ukrainian State Folk Choir. She then became something of a national treasure as she carved out a solo career championing women's rights and the folk music of her country. Sadly she passed away in October of this year. There doesn't seem to be much of her music available to western listeners, but here is a 2020 performance on the World Folk Vision Festival:
The Volyn State Academic Folk Choir was established in 1978 in the western city of Lutsk and is a large all singing and dancing ensemble with some 80 active members, 24 of them being dancers. Apparently they have released CDs of their music, but I can't find them, nor do they appear to have an active website. However there are a number of videos on YouTube of their dance performances and here is a fun one called The Enchanted Hat:
Next stop is the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Now if you were born in this city before World War I and are still alive today and have never left, you would have lived in Austro-Hungary, Germany, Poland, the Soviet-Union and Ukraine during your lifetime. This part of the world has changed hands more often then some people change their underwear!
Anyway moving on with the musical theme, composer and singer Mariana Sadovska was born here in 1972. She is considered a pioneer of blending Ukrainian folk with contemporary avant-garde elements. Nowadays she lives in Cologne in Germany. Here's a song from her 2010 album Just Not Forever (Re-released in 2022) called Zozulya:
Also from Lviv, and I feel I should mention her, is Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko, or simply Ruslana, who won the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. As you may have figured out by now, I'm not a fan of that glorified schmalzfest, but Ruslana appears to be quite a talented musician and dancer, whose talent may be wasted in the commercialised world of pop, as well as having a sexy figure, which always goes down well with the voting public. After her success she got involved in politics and even served in government for a while as a cultural advisor and was voted one of the world's most influential women by Forbes Magazine. She still is active as a campaigner, particularly relating to the current war. So here is a quite a moving video, presumably to boost the morale of the troops.
The Hudaki Village Band is a troupe of 9 musicians from the Ukrainian Carpathians region on the border with Hungary and Romania known as Maramorosh and were established in 2001. Being from a mountainous border area the regional influences are multi-faceted and include Slavic vocal traditions, Romanian melodies, Jewish rhythms and Roma temperament. This is all delivered with panache and a great deal of humour. Here are a couple of songs from their 2018 album Yo! called Let's Drink Boys and Mariko Do You Hear Me:
During lockdown the members of indie-pop band Tik Tu from Ternopil in western Ukraine were getting a bit restless. Browsing around YouTube they found the joyful Malawian duo the Madalitso Band, 2 guys that had been busking on the streets of Lilongwe on battered old guitars to keep their heads above water, but came to international attention around 2017 when they performed at the Zanzibar music festival. So the Ukrainians sent them an e-mail about how they admired their music and would they like to collaborate, remotely obviously during those days, which resulted in a single called Sitimamenya complete with accompanying video and here it is:
That's it from western Ukraine for the time being, next stop is the capital Kyiv. In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.
We arrive in Belarus, another country I haven't visited and I don't know a great deal about, apart from the fact that it is governed by a pretty repressive dictatorship, a fact I don't think is too controversial internationally. The national language is Belarussian, but Russian is spoken widely. As far as the music is concerned, the government stipulates that 75% of music played on the radio has to be Belarussian, whether it be in the Belarussian or Russian languages, and presumably voices critical of the regime don't get a look in.
First stop is the western city of Lida, where multi-instrumentalist Ivan Kirchuk was born. He specialises in the ethnology and folklore of his homeland and plays rare and ancient instruments such as the ocarina, domra and bagpipes, as well as singing songs. He is a larger than life character with a beard to match his personality, who now teaches at Minsk university. Here is a song from his 1999 album Heritage of the Lost Villages called Oy, ishli-prayshli da try yangali:
Accordionist Aliaksandr Yasinski was born in the city Baranavichy in western Belarus in 1989, but now resides in Prague. He draws on Belarussian and Balkan music as well as tango and jazz in a unique and dramatic style. Here is the title track to his first 2022 solo album Hlybini (Depths):
Instrumental trio Port Mone were established in 2006 in the capital Minsk. They have forged their own roots style with influences from minimalism, jazz and ambient music. In 2012 they got together with the inimitable DakhaBrakha from neighbouring Ukraine to form the Khmeleva Project. Here is a track from the resulting album called Єлена (Elena):
The Camerata Vocal Group were established in 1992 in Minsk and appear to be quite proudly state sponsored, which isn't to say they are not talented. The seven or so members give their own orchestral accompaniment to their songs with their voices, using both electronic enhancement and at times techniques like beat-box. Here is a song from their 2000 album Angels called Сокол (Falcon), complete with snowy backdrop and (bizarrely) fighting knights:
Ethno-musicologist and multi-instrumentalist Zisl Slepovitch is a native of Minsk, but now resides in New York, where he lectures on Eastern European Jewish music and culture and klezmer, in which he holds a PHD. He has released 2 albums recreating songs remembered and described by Holocaust survivors. Whilst this sounds like a heavy subject matter, most of the songs are surprisingly resilient, even satirical, a testament of the power of music in adversity. The lyrics are in Yiddish, French and Polish and are sung by Latvian singer Sasha Lurje. Here's a song from the 2021 album Cry My Heart, Cry! Songs from Testimonies Vol. II called Kidush Hashem:
Early music folk band Stary Olsa was established in 1999 playing Medieval and renaissance music on from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which Belarus was once a part of. To keep it interesting though they also play covers of classic rock songs on the same instruments. Here's their 2021 single Балада пра Цмока (Ballad of the Dragon):
Finally spare a thought for the members of Tor Band whose protest songs about the regime in Belarus got them into trouble with the government and were sentenced to up to 9 years in prison in October this year for inciting hatred, creating an extremist group, discrediting Belarus and insulting the president. Their song не народец (Not a Nation) has become an anthem for the anti-government protest movement:
That's it from Belarus, next stop is Ukraine, where we linger a little longer. In the meantime you can follow my virtual musical journey on my Tripline map as usual.
We move on to Warsaw the capital and largest city of Poland. Apparently much of the historic centre was destroyed during the war, but what remains of it is now a UNSECO world heritage site. First up we meet the band that is at the forefront of the Polish folk revival, the mighty Warsaw Village Band or Kapela ze wsi Warszawa. They formed in 1998 as the Communist regimes of the former Warsaw pact started to crumble in an effort to preserve the traditions and cultures of Poland before globalism took hold. They travelled the length and breadth of the country collecting old songs and interpreting them for a modern audience using traditional instruments such as frame drums, hurdy-gurdy and suka, a Polish folk fiddle. The bands vocals are sung in a loud open-throated style reminiscent of Bulgarian throat singing, but also used by Polish shepherds communities. Here's a live version of a song from their 2012 album Nord called Hola Byśki, Hola:
And talking about the suka fiddle, one of the most prominent musicians reviving the fortunes of this ancient instrument is Maria Pomianowska, who was born in Warsaw in 1961. She started out studying the cello before making various trips to Asia and learning various Asian string instruments, most notably the Indian sarangi. She finally went back and in 1994 took an interest in the ancient instruments of her home country, the Biłgoraj
suka and the Płock fiddle, reconstructing them with the help of a luthier. As nobody knew what these instruments originally sounded like, Maria developed her own style, incorporating it into folk styles from around the world. In 2020 she released an instrumental album called Sukotherapy and this a track called Pandemic:
Brand new folk band Zawierucha only started up last year in Warsaw. Their name means turmoil or storm. They aim to combine traditional polkas and other dance forms with jazz-rock and other modern music forms with much improvisation thrown in, although apart from the drumkit their instrumentation is made up of traditional strings. This the opening track of their debut album OberTany called Wiwat Fortuna:
More established, folk band Werchowyna started out as an initiative of Warsaw students and the Student Circle of Beskid Guides in 1991. However their focus is mostly on Ukranian folk with polyphonic singing. Here's a track from their 1996 album Krynyczenka called Powedu Konyka:
Folk trio WoWaKin was established in Warsaw by Paula Kinaszewska Bartłomiej Woźniak and Mateusz Wachowiak in 2016, whose surnames make up the name of the group. Their music is made up of Mazurkas and other rural dance tunes from the plains of central Poland. Here is a song from their 2020 album Wiązanka called Rutka:
Next we're heading into the Radom region, south of Warsaw. Last year a compilation CD was released of the traditional music from this richly varied region called simply Muzyka spod Radomia. One of the bands featured is the Kapela Niwińskich and here is a sequence of songs and dance tunes by them performed live:
Finally we are heading west of Warsaw to the city of Włocławek, where singer/songwriter Monika Żelazek comes from. I don't actually know much about her, nor does she have much music on official release as a solo artist, however I like the songs that are out there. Here is a beautiful ballad called Czego się boisz serce (What are you afraid of heart):
That's it from central Poland, next stop the north and west of Poland. In the meantime you can follow my virtual trip on my Tripline map.
