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CD Review of Tengir-Too
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San Diego Union-Tribune, CD Review of Tengir-Too >>
BY George Varga
You don't need to know a thing about the lute-like komuz or the violin-like qyl qiyak (which has just two strings and actually sounds more like a cello) to appreciate the mesmerizing music made by Tengir-Too. Nor do you need to know that Kyrgyzstan is a former Soviet Republic bordered by China, or that Tengir-Too is better known by its Chinese name, Tien-Shan (which translates as “Celestial Mountains”).
All you need to do is close your eyes and listen as this one-woman, six-man group breathes new life into age-old music that was repressed for decades by the Soviet occupiers of Kyrgyzstan. Drawing from various Islamic and shamanistic traditions, the 18 songs on this lovingly produced album are as fresh and vital as they are steeped in history. What results is earthy and exotic, foreign yet sometimes strangely familiar, as Tengir-Too (pronounced: Ten-Gear Toe) salute and extend the legacy of their ancestors.
Highlights include the jaw-harp-fueled opening track, “Jangylyk,” which is so primal it sounds brand-new, and each selection featuring the remarkable singing of Rysbek Jumabaev, who performs a haunting excerpt from “The Manas” (an oral epic that has more than 500,000 lines of text). The accompanying DVD is an added treat. 02/23/06 >> go there
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