Records
what's new... what's available..."OYF YENER ZAYT TAYKH (ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIV" - Ashkenazim
- artist:Ashkenazim
- country:Russian Federation
- style(s): Folk Yiddish
- record submitted by:
- label:not yet
The latest recording from the Polina Shepherd Vocal
Experience shows two changes in personnel plus
some new instrumentation.
The new baritone singer, Merlin Shepherd offers a
strong and folky voice, passionate and sensitive.
The new alto, Evgenia Slavina, also with a strong
folk element to her voice offers a great depth,
strength and thoughtfulness. With Polina Shepherd
and Yana Ovrutskaya as the longest standing
members of the quartet, the sound is warm, robust
and yet still fresh and sweet.
New instrumentation comes as piano, clarinet,
tenor sax, electric guitar and double bass.
The tunes and arrangements themselves show a
maturity and development of Polina"s style. From
the opening track, the ubiquitous ai-yai-yai with its
raunchy soloing and greatly entertaining ending to
the simple and delicate shpitsn berg, sung a
capella, a delicious nugget of sweet sound.....This
remarkable recording captures even more of the
passion, pain, joy and bittersweet world of
yiddishkeit than she acheived previously, and now
even with electric guitar bringing the sound of this
terrific ensemble bang up to date. Polina"s
composing, arranging and overall musicality have
taken a daring step into previously unchartered
waters. Indeed, the quartet really now finds itself
"on the other side of the river"!
