World music from: Poland, the band Mitomani, Niger: Serendou, Bosnia and Herzegovina: the band Divanhana.
1-Mitomani.
Polish group Mitomani has five members, who all first studied in Poland and later on in the Netherlands. On their album Ambigram , this quintet reveals itself as a versatile company, balancing on the edge of classical music, folk, jazz, tango and klezmer. The music is to the point. The two women and three men offer a combination of the violin, cello, guitar, clarinet, accordion, flute and percussion, which gives possibilities to make every song sound differently.
CD. Ambigram – Mitomani. Label: Pan Records (2015), code: PAN226. Video
2- Serendou.
Flutes and percussion from Niger in a unique recording of cross cultural music. This African-French combination surprises us with exotic sounds, subtly blended with Breton, Brazilian and European improvisations. The flutes and tuba of the ‘Special Guests’ are impressive. The repetitive, rhythmic vocals resembles that of nomad traditions of the Toeareg and the Moroccan ‘gnawa’.
CD. Zinder – Serendou. Label: Hirustica (2017), code: 11966. Distributie XANGO music. Video
3- Divanhana.
On this album, Divanhana plays traditional music and songs with new arrangements with jazz, pop and 20th-century classical influences. It’s urban traditional music from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the whole Balkan area, focusing on folk music. The city of Mostar is mostly known for the old bridge, the Stari Most, that symbolizes the destruction of the Bosnian civil war.
CD. Live in Mostar – Divanhana. Label: Arc Music (2017), code: EUCD2722. Video
