Review Text
Janam's long-anticipated debut album takes the listener on a soulful and exotic journey through Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, Russia, Hungary and the Appalachians, and includes songs in the Romani (aka Gypsy) and Sephardic Jewish traditions. Feast on sultry ballads, driving dance tunes, virtuosic musicianship and stunning vocals. In addition to innovative reinterpretations of folk tunes, included are original compositions by founder and vocalist Juliana Graffagna inspired by the modalities and meters of traditional Eastern European music. Janam sprang from a common love and deep respect for the richness, variety, complexity, and enduring beauty of the music of the Balkans, Turkey, and America's mountain regions. The songs tell stories of dark eyes, growing old, nightingales, prison walls, burning love - the universal stuff of life - through captivating tonalities and sultry rhythms. Janam features: Dan Auvil: percussion; Tom Farris: laouto, guitar, accordion; Juliana Graffagna: voice, percussion; Gari Hegedus: oud, violin, mandocello; Peter Jaques: clarinet, voice; and Bill Lanphier, bass "An innovative ensemble that explores a dizzying range of styles, from Appalachia and Asia Minor to Eastern Europe. The sextet plays swirling, hard-driving music that always seems to end up in unexpected places." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE.
