Customer Reviews

Yuri Yunakov Ensemble

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

you don't have to be a fan of eastern european folk music to find a place in your collection for yuri. in addition to clearing customers from a music store at closing time, it is also useful for getting rid of unwanted roommates and nosy neighbours... unless they're bulgarian.

That is right! Bulgarian wedding music at its best. I dont know if many of you have ever worked in retail but you can learn to appreciate anything that comes along to quiet the insanity customers can bring. Enter the incomprable Fury of Yuri and things instantly become silent to the sounds that come from the speakers. Magically people begin to vanish, a absolute miracle if you can appreciate it with the right(wrong?) kind of mind. I first came across this cd about two years ago at a retail outlet and found it indespensable! The best track is "Iskam ja mamo" with its vocal solo. But all the tracks are equally great! a true treasure for people suffering from depression and for someone trying to end a disturbing dinner party at just the right time. A land mark for the mind and soul. Buy it! If you dare!

Bulgarian "wedding music" is innovative and distinctive, elevating traditional Bulgarian folk music into its own genre. Innovative in that the saxaphone and clarinet, the two wind instruments that predominate, allow for a wide range of technical expansion and creativity. In the hands of Yuri Yunakov, that means astonishing technical expertise creating explosive music with unbelievable chromatic scales and harmonic progressions. Summed up in one simple sentence, "This is NOT your grandfather's village music anymore." This astounding music has unlimited creative horizons that stretch the art of improvisation beyond the boundaries of regional music catapulting it into world class jazz at its finest and most astonishing best. The music is reminiscent of American jazz, Roma (Gypsy) music, with snatches of Arabic influences, combined with the rapid rhythms and odd-numbered meters of the Balkans, making it very distinctive indeed! Bulgarian wedding music was born in southern Bulgaria, in a region called Thrace, where it thrived despite communist suppression, which tried to eliminate all "foreign" sounding music and keep Bulgarian music pure (as they defined it). This music thrived due to hundreds and sometimes thousands of people that gathered where ever it was played. Huge numbers of uninvited guests gathered where wedding parties were celebrated. Eventually, even the authorities had to capitulate and accept this genre of music due to its enormous popularity and growing status. "Balada: Bulgarian Wedding Music" is the title of this CD. It is filled with a wide range of musical rhythms and styles primarily from the Thrace region. The music is ethereal, other-worldly, and absolutley the best music that Bulgaria and the Balkans has to offer. It is filled with beautifully updated folk tunes brought up to speed with modern instruments, such as the saxophone and clarinet, along with the traditional regional instrument of the accordion and dumbek. Traditional Bulgarian melodies have been refashioned by the hands of Yuri Yunakov, with his prodigious technical skill and creative musical expertise: he is a virtuoso beyond compare! If you love jazz and improvisations -- this CD is for you. If you are fascinated by Balkan music: you MUST have this CD!!

The signature tune, "Balada" is a trio of folk tune medlies, the first is a "graovsko" which is named after a town west of Sofia, the second is a Bulgarian dance called, "ruchenitsa" in the 7/16 meter, and the third is a "pravo horo" which is in the 2/4 meter, a regional snake-like dance that can last as long as 6 hours! Stated another way, "this ain't your village music anymore", with high-speed chromatic variations and harmonic progressions, the music is exotic and hypnotizing! There are stunning vocals on some tracks by Carol Silverman (a professor of folklore and cultural anthropology at the University of Oregon) and by Lauren Brody, a Bulgarian musical expert, both of whom have traveled to Bulgaria extensively and have first hand knowledge by absorbing the rhythms and meters for over 30 years each. Other examples of musical styles are the "chochek", which is a Roma (gypsy) dance in the 2/4 or 9/8 meter. There is a "kopanitsa" meter which is very pleasing from the Pazardzhik region of western Thrace. It includes the vocal technique called glottal stops. Included on this CD is the "dajchovo" meter which is 9/16 broken up as 2-2-2-3. There are several musical examples in the "ruchenitsa" meter of 7/16 (2-2-3). A "bavna melodija" was created by Yuri Yunakov and Neshko Neshev which demonstrates their virtuosity and technical skills, as well as artistic creativity and control. Also on this CD is a "smesno" ("mixed") horo (dance) which combines the chetvorno meter of 7/16 (3-2-2) with the flowing Thracian 2/4 meter. The two styles combined provide for a much wider range of variations for improvisation. There is a "paidushko" meter which is 5/16 (2-3) that is well-known and a popular dance throughout Bulgaria. The CD finishes with a "Buchimish" in the 15/16 meter, a decidedly different and unusual meter, 2-2-2-2-3-2-2. It is an example of the music which originates from the Shope region of Bulgaria. All in all: this CD is jam-packed with great music. It show-cases many fine examples of the very best Bulgarian wedding music every played!
Erika Borsos (erikab93)

This is one of the best albums of Balkan music I've heard. It has tons of energy, great melodies, and you can dance to almost every track. (I love Balkan village music, and have been doing Balkan dances for years. It's great exercise, and the sometimes fast and complex steps keep your brain working.) Yuri is a master at traditional improvisation, and adds lots of it to the traditional dance tunes on this CD. This music is not only good for dancing, but I use it at work when I need an energy boost while doing mundane boring work.

Let me start with full disclosure: I am Bulgarian and don't have any Turkish or Roma ancestry AFAIK :). As such, I did grow up with prejudice against things both Turkish and Roma. This definitely informs my overall dislike of this CD, as it is a weird mixture of Turkish, Roma and Bulgarian music. And by mixture I mean that within each song all three are mixed in. The overall effect is very oriental (and confusing for somebody familiar with Bulgarian music). Stylistically, I would prefer a purer sound, although some people probably like the blend. Because of that, one of the tracks I liked best was #9 - Arabski Kjuchek - as it is purely oriental in style.

Aside from all that, it is a difficult CD to listen to in its entirety. The worst part is the constant synth in the background, which is absolutely unnecessary and grating, and the reverb-echo effect that is on the whole time that makes my brain vibrate like a pitchfork after 5-10 minutes (you can check for it at the end of each song once the music stops). The rhythm is not provided by proper percussion instruments, but by what seems to be a synthesized base, with a little drum added. (Cultural note: there is no base-equivalent instrument in Bulgarian music and the rhythm would be kept by "tupan" - big drum). The saxophone sound subtly wrong, as the traditional instrument "kaval" sounds deeper and smoother and is usually replaced by a clarinet in modern interpretations. The sax is simply too shrill.

The melodies seem to be repetitive, although it may be just my impression because of the orchestration. Speaking of that, the orchestration is overly complicated. Too much for traditional Bulgarian music. I am not a music expert and I understand that it is meant to be "virtuoso" playing, but as a human being, I find that I don't need to hear a different note for every one of the 16 beats of the phrase. Bulgarian music does have repetition within songs, but when you combine it with the constant trilling and relentless virtuoso playing, it is exhausting. Maybe it works better at a Roma wedding, but I have never been to one.

It would take a special mood to be able to listen to this CD (or maybe a special need, like clearing out a store at the end of the day, as other reviewers seem to have realized). If you are looking for Bulgarian folk music, I would recommend against getting this CD. If you are organizing a Roma wedding, then this may be the CD for you.