reviving Belorussian traditions connected with the celebration of calendar holidays and other customary festivals.
Jam Bibum's unorthodox approach to folk music helps young people look beyond the negative stereotypes concerning "foklore groups", encourages youngsters to get involved in cultivating their forefathers' customs, and fosters spiritual development and national consciousness. Easiness of mastering the drums and percussion, as well as the possibility of varying the difficulty of the performed material, provide everyone, regardless of their musical skills, with an opportunity for creative expression.
In its relatively short life the group managed to take part in a considerable number of cultural events, such as: celebrations of the Minsk City Days (Belarus), autumn market-festivals (annual fairs), charity concerts at the CTDM, folklore and youth festivals such as "Suzorje", "Taukaczyki", "Swieżyj Wietier" ("A Fresh Breeze"), "Rycarski Fest" (knightly festival in Minsk), the Festival of Open Eyes and Ears "Autobus" in Poznań, Poland, the International Folk Music Festival "Mikolajki Folkowe" in Lublin, Poland, a program of the Youth Stage Theatre entitled "Medieval Carols", youth festivals "Prokosnis k letu" ("Touch the Summer") at the "Akwarium" Club, an exhibition of folk craft "Wyhod za ramki" ("Going Beyond the Frames").
Contact:
Anastazja Chmiel
E-mail: kalahari@tut.by
Jar
Masha Lagodich (flute, vocals) and Natasha Piatrovich (cello, drums) formed a duet in 2002 in Minsk. They are inspired with folk music combined with different modern musical styles, such as jazz and avant-garde music. Their first considerable success was the first place prize in the "Open Stage" competition at the International Folk Festival "Mikołajki Folkowe" in 2002 in Lublin. Since that time the group has taken part in many music festivals in Belarus, Germany and France. In 2005 they released the album "Wiosna krasna" ("Beautiful Spring"). The recording session was one of the prizes they received at "Mikołajki Folkowe" Festival.
Contact:
E-mail: lagodichfolk@mail.ru
http://groupjar.com
MP3
Jizel's Band
The Minsk-based trio was formed at the end of 1999. Since then they have given over 100 concerts in a variety of places, from artistic cafes to big open-air events. The group's artistic work consists mainly of acoustic instrumental pieces drawing on the musical traditions of Slavic nations. As they admit, they rely on their instruments, without which the band would not have come into being. "We gathered some old instruments, tried to play something in order to check how they sound together. We liked that..."
Domra, the double bass, was incidentally discovered by Sasha in the basement of an old house in Minsk. He decided to restore it, and it turned out to be over 50 years old and a truly rare instrument. The guitar was made by Andriej himself. To get hold of bandura, a Ukrainian national instrument, they had to travel to Kiev. Elements of their percussion were also brought over from different places. All these efforts resulted in forming a fairly unusual mixture of instruments, which makes the sound of Jizel's Band really unique.
)
)
)