Yat-Kha

Infobox musical artist |
Name = Yat-Kha

Yat-Kha is a band from Tuva, led by vocalist/guitarist Albert Kuvezin. Their music is a mixture of Tuvinian traditional music and rock, featuring Kuvezin's distinctive "kargyraa" throat singing style, the "kanzat kargyraa".

Biography

Yat-Kha was founded in Moscow in 1991, as a collaborative project between Kuvezin and Russian avant-garde, electronic composer Ivan Sokolovsky. The project blended traditional Tuvan folk music with post-modern rhythms and electronic effects. Kuvezin and Sokolovsky toured and played festivals, and eventually took the name “Yat-Kha,” which refers to a type of small, Central Asian zither similar to the Mongolian "yatga" and the Chinese "guzheng", which Kuvezin plays in addition to the guitar. In 1993, they released a self-titled album on the General Records label.

After the release of "Yat-Kha", Kuvezin and Sokolovsky parted creative ways and Kuvezin went on to release five other albums under the name Yat-Kha with other musicians (and less of an emphasis on electronics), beginning with "Yenisei Punk" in 1995, with "morin khuur" player Alexei Saaia (produced by Lu Edmonds). Sokolovsky issued a remastered version of the "Yat-Kha" album, with additional tracks, under the title "Tundra's Ghosts" in 1996/97.

Since 2001, they have been performing a live soundtrack to Vsevolod Pudovkin's 1928 silent film "Storm Over Asia." They may release a DVD of this version of the film with Reality Film.

Discography

Albums:

*"Priznak Greyushii Byedi" (1991)
*"Khanparty" (1992)
*"Yat-Kha" (1993)
*"Yenisei Punk" (1995)
*"Tundra's Ghosts" (1996/97) - remastered version of "Yat-Kha" released by Ivan Sokolovsky)
*"Dalai Beldiri" (1999)
*"Aldyn Dashka" (2000)
*"Bootleg" (2001, live)
*"tuva.rock" (2003)
*"Re-Covers" (2005)
*"Bootleg 2005" (2005, live)

Members

Current

* Albert Kuvezin (vocals, Throat Singing, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Chanzy, Khomus, Yat-Kha)
* Evgeny "Zhenya" Tkachov (drums, Percussion)
* "Scipio" (Bass Guitar)

Past

* Radik Tiuliush (vocals, Throat Singing, Morin Khuur, Igil)
* Sailyk Ommun (vocals, Yat-Kha)
* Makhmud Skripaltschchikov (Bass Guitar)
* Aldyn-ool Sevek (vocals, Throat Singing, Morin Khuur, Igil)
* Alexei Saaia (vocals, Morin khuur, Bass Guitar)
* Aias-ool Danzyryn (vocals, Chanzy)
* Ivan Sokolovsky (Synthesizers, Percussion)

Awards

* 1991 recognized by Brian Eno, one of the international judges at the first Voices of Asia Festival in Almaty, Kazakhstan
* 1995 French RFI "Decouvertes Est" prize for "Yenisei Punk"
* 1999 German Critic's Prize for "Dalai Beldiri"
* 2002 BBC Radio 3 "Award for World Music"

External links

* [http://www.yat-kha.com/ Yat-Kha]
*
*
* [http://www.raig.ru/sokol.asp Ivan Sokolovsky]
* [http://www.realityfilm.co.uk/ Reality Film: Storm over Asia]