Batsükh Dorj

"Jin söörtügjüler", by Batsükh and tuvan master Papizan

In the framework of the CD An Anthology of Mongolian Khöömii
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  • country:Mongolia
  • region:Altay
  • style(s):Throatsinging
  • label:Buda Musique
  • type:Solo, Duo
  • gender:male
  • instrumentation:instrumental, vocal, a cappella, percussion, string, unplugged, lute, guitar
  • artist contact:Routes Nomades

Line up

  • Batsükh Dorj (khöömii, doshpuluur lute, igil fiddle, khomus)
  • Johanni Curtet (khöömii, guitar, doshpuluur lute, khomus)

Tuvan Throat Singing from Mongolia

Batsükh was born in 1990 in Tsengel, Bayan-Ölgii province in Mongolia. Initiated by Papizan Badar, he learned khöömei with his older brother Bütemj, and listened to recordings. He developed his practice in Touva alongside the famous throat-singers from the Alash and Chirgilchin ensembles. He graduated from the Music College of the Republic of Tuva (Russia). He masters several khöömei techniques, in Mongolian and Tuvan styles: khöömei (hurried overtone singing), sygyt (whistled khöömei), kargyraa (deep khöömei), ezengileer, borbagnadyr; the playing of the igil fiddle and the doshpuluur lute; and instrument making, learned from Aldar Tamdyn. Batsükh participates in many festivals and traditional arts competitions, as well as national and regional khöömei competitions.

About the last album "Ögbelerim – Music for my Ancestors" (Buda Musique):

Tsengel, the western most village of Mongolia. In the remote foothills of the upper Altai mountains, Batsükh Dorj perpetuates khöömei in his community. This remarkable musician perfectly masters the different throat singing styles typical of the Tuvans: khöömei (contracted throat singing), sygyt (whistled throat singing), kargyraa (deep throat singing), ezenggileer (lit. “stirrups”), and borbangnadyr (lit. “rolling”). Accompanied by Johanni Curtet, specialist in throat-singing in the West who arranged and produced her first album, Batsükh sings us about his nomadic culture through mountains and travels, notably by imitating the rhythms of horses and the flow of water. A rare and complete artist: luthier, he masters his own sound; and composer he brings a major contribution to his musical tradition.

This Altai blues is a sound that is its, and that of this encounter between a Tuvan musician and a French researcher-musician in search of harmonic sounds, where the art of khöömei unites them. Seeking a folk acoustic sound in vast spaces, it is a free and spontaneous interpretation. Compositions in the codes of the tradition, revisited Tuvan traditional music, a fiddle that makes us forget the temporality, a lute that punctuates our cavalcades, the overtones that connect us to the elements, a timeless music, in tribute to our ancestors.

Media:
Best Album for Asia & Pacific 2024 – Transglobal World Music Chart
Best Artist for Asia & Pacific Nominee 2024 – Songlines Music Awards
Top of the World Album, December 2023 issue – Songlines Magazine
Album Selection, November 2023 – Le Monde

Discography:
-An Anthology of Mongolian khöömii (2017, Buda Musique/Routes Nomades)
-Ögbelerim – Music for my Ancestors (2023, first album, Buda Musique/Routes Nomades)
-Journey into Khöömii, de J.-F. Castell (2018 Les Films du Rocher, Hors/Champs-Contre/Champs, A ProPos productions)

References:
Official Showcase Selection - WOMEX 24, Official Showcase Selection - BABEL MUSIC XP, Opera House of Rennes, Opera House of Lille, Musée des Confluences (Lyon), Musée Guimet, Festival Les Détours de Babel, L’Alhambra and MEG, Geneva (CH), Carrefour International de Valenciennes, Le Phénix-scène nationale de Valenciennes, Maison des cultures du Monde, Festival Voix Romanes, Les Suds à Arles, Festival Arre Voce, Festival Les Orientales, Festival Le Rêve de l’Aborigène, Muziekpublique (BE)…

Batsükh Dorj
Batsükh Dorj playing the toshpuluur lute, by Sh. Nomindari, Tsengel 2015
Batsükh Dorj by J.Curtet, Tsengel 2017
Batsükh Dorj, by Sh. Nomindari, Tsengel 2015
Batsükh Dor and Johanni Curtet, by Alain Clavier 2022
Batsükh Dor Official Showcase Selection WOMEX 24

Songs

Excerpt from the CD An Anthology of Mongolian Khöömii
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Links

Records

"Ögbelerim - Music for my Ancestors" - Batsükh Dorj