Dálava:

Dálava is an homage to traditional Moravian (Czech) folksong, sourcing melodies transcribed over 100 years ago by the great-grandfather of Dálava's singer, Julia Ulehla, and reanimating them in an extremely stirring, avant-garde, post-rock musical language. Comprised of a group of stellar musicians from Vancouver, Dálava's release The Book of Transfigurations (Songlines, 2017) has garnered critical acclaim. "Every now and then an album appears that is so overwhelming and so intense that it is hard to put into any category. Such is the case with The Book of Transfigurations...Saying that TBOT is a masterpiece is not an exaggeration” (Bas Springer, fRoots, August 2017). "It’s astonishing music—and the story behind its creation is emblematic of how Old World traditions can be born again, thousands of miles and several generations away from their roots" (Alex Varty, Georgia Straight, March 2017). "The album is not so much a fusion, more an exciting collision of tradition with experimentation, one that will equally appeal to fans of folk, avantgarde improv and jazz" (Jo Frost, Songlines Magazine, July 2017). In performance and on recording, the "incandescent" (Musicworks, Summer/Fall 2017) Dálava delves into deep territory—conjuring ancestors, animating spirits, and crafting musical microcosms around the gem-like folk melodies.

Abraxas:

Shanir Blumenkranz's band Abraxas has put out two albums on John Zorn's Tzadik label: Masada Book of Angels Volume 19 and Psychomagia. Featurings Blumenkranz on gimbri/bass, Kenny Grohowski on Drums and Eyal Maoz on guitar, Bill Milkowski called their first album a “Twin 6 String assault,” in Downbeat Magazine. A third album of material, entitled Masada Book Beriah: Gevurah, will be released in early 2018.

Frank London's Glass House Orchestra:

Astro-Hungarian folk punk led by mastermind Frank London. The ensemble is named after the Glass House or Üvegház, the famous building, one among 76, designated as a safehouse by Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz during the Holocaust in Hungary, which sheltered thousands of persecuted Jewish Hungarians. Frank London (trumpet) is joined by 3 Hungarian and 4 US-based musicians. Edina Szirtes Mókus (violin, voice), Miklós Lukács (cimbalom/tsimbl), Béla Ágoston (winds) from Hungary are joined by Argentinian Pablo Aslan (bass), Aram Bajakian (guitar) Israeli-born Yonadav Halevy (drums) and Jake Shulman-Ment (violin), 4 New York-based musicians with wildly varied and exciting backgrounds.

Music Inspired By The Color of Pomegranates:

A solo guitar album featuring music inspired by Sergei Parajanov's 1969 film The Color of Pomegranates.

there were flowers also in hell:

When I was 10 I remember my Uncle came over with a 1940s Steel guitar and played some slide blues on it. He's a master slide player, and throughout my teenage years, he would take me to blues shows. We sat on the side of the stage at a BB KING show, and you could feel his sound in your chest. And I'll never forget the immense vibrato of Clarence Gatemouth Brown. While I'm not an old school blues player, this music has left a deep impression on me. I originally set out to make a blues record, but with Shazhad and Jerome playing in their beautiful way, it turned into something very different. At times it's funny, at times it's regal, and times it's dense and chaotic like the city I live in. I still think it's a blues record. It's just a blues that comes from living in Queens and raising a family in this great crazy city.

there were flowers also in hell features Shahzad Ismaily on bass and Jerome Jennings on drums.

Available at:

Bandcamp:https://arambajakian.bandcamp.com/

iTunes:https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/there-were-flowers-also-in/id795494097

dolphy formations:

Dolphy Formations. Featuring the Vancouver trio Handmade Blade: Peggy Lee (Dave Douglas, Wayne Horvitz) on cello, JP Carter (Destroyer, Dan Magan) on trumpet and Bajakian on guitar.

Bajakian's composition is based on Synthetic Formations that were given to Dr. Yusef Lateef in 1961 by saxophonist Eric Dolphy, and included in his book, the Repository of Scales and Melodic Patterns.

Bajakian first discovered the Formations during his 4 years of study with Brother Yusef at the University of Massachusetts, but it was more than a decade later that he realized the composition. The results are haunting, enigmatic and deeply meditative, a musical homage to a master educator, mentor and friend, and all the selfless wisdom that he gave the world.

Available at www.banadcamp.com/arambajakian

aram bajakian's kef:

Available at www.tzadik.com

Tzadiks’s newest Spotlight series focuses on exemplary young bands with great dedication, passion, talent and imagination. This third release features the debut recording of Brooklyn-based Aram Bajakian’s newest unit Kef, named for the Armenian dance music that combines both traditional and western instruments and influences, often in electrified bands. Aram is a shredding guitar player who is passionately proud of his heritage and is advancing the Kef tradition in very exciting ways by combining modern rock and noise with traditional Armenian forms. The music here rocks hard with exciting rhythms, searing guitar work and beautiful world music melodies, beautifully performed by a brilliant group of young lions.

Featuring Shanir Blumenkranz on Bass and Tom Swafford on Violin.

projects