Jamies work with a band called Wunjo in the mid to late '90's has had huge influence on our sound and genre...and jen would add in the amazing and talented Mel Robinson who has provided inspiration and direction. Personally we all like and admire such a diversity of music that selecting any one influence or genre could create an unauthentic impression...what springs to mind is the music of Steve Reich, Toumani Diabati, Kaoling Cissoko, Bartok, Greagory Lagetti, J.S.Bach, the sea...and crikey it's all just too numerous...
ElectricKoraLand is an exciting new Australian contemporary world music act, formed by players experienced in street as well as stage performance.
Combining an electrified version of the Kora (exotic looking 24 string West African harp) with Percussion and Electric Cello, the sound the trio produces has been described as powerful and otherworldly.
The inherently beautiful sound of the Kora is expanded by subtle use of electronics to create a deeply textured sonic tapestry. Electric Cello brings depth and poignancy to the mix, while percussion from various world traditions adds power, rythmn and spice.
During their tour of Europe a couple of Swiss hang drums (tuned percussion) were aquired and lend their ambience to EKL's sound. They are a welcome complement to our sound.
For those who might be curious....
People often ask us about our instruments, some of you may be familiar with them, but for those of you who would like to know a bit more, here goes –
Kora – Despite its differing appearance and layout from the European harp, the Kora is basically a West African version of this type of instrument. Musicologists define it as being a type of “spike-harp”; sounds like it could hurt your fingers or impale you, but in fact the traditional music is very soothing. From simple cycles and harmonic forms, a music of surprising subtlety, complexity, depth and virtuosity emerges.
Though we love the tradition Kora ( 21 strings and made from a large calabash, a goat skin, some strong sticks, a wooden bridge, some cloth and a forged metal ring at one end to attach strings to), there are some difficulties associated with picking up the sound and running it through a sound system (feedback etc) especially if you have a penchant for playing around with weird electronic effects! It’s also a bit fragile and a slightly awkward and bulky thing to travel with. With this in mind, Jamie commissioned West Australian Luthier Simon Rovis-Herman (www.rovis-hermannguitars.com) to build a more portable electric-kora. The beautiful instrument he designed and built has a slender blackwood body, an extra 3 strings (making 24) and a unique and innovative saddle system for the strings. The other innovation is the addition of a retractable cello spike to support the instrument while playing. Jamie is currently using an AKG pick-up system, but will probably be tinkering with this for years in search of that elusive “perfect sound”
Stay tuned for more instrument descriptions!
Il festival si è concluso...ma il video contest continua. Mandaci il tuo video entro il 21 settembre (regolamento su contest. ferrarabuskers. com) Se non hai un video non ti resta che decidere chi sarà il vincitore: cerca su youtube i video in concorso digitando "veni vidi gig it" e vota, linka e commenta!
Thankyou very much! It's also great to see some interesting instruments and world-music being played around perth! Makes me feel like I certainly should get out more:P Gosia
