Ethno-Barents music. Fairy tales of yesterday.

Mini-fest “Ethno-Barents Music” held in Arkhangelsk last Saturday became another remarkable event in the cultural cooperation in the Barents Region. The festival was initiated and arranged under initiative of famous Arkhangelsk guitarist Tim Dorofeev who for many years is working for harmonic blending of new progressive jazz and folk music traditions. The ethnic projects of Tim Dorofeev became famous in Russia and abroad some years ago. In 2007 his group “Sever” took part in the Barents Spectacle with the project “East-North” where he tried to merge old Pomor songs with exotic oriental melodies. This trip to Kirkenes and acquaintance with traditional sami music was probably an impulse for search of new ideas, senses and sounds reflecting a unique northern identities of the people living in the Barents Region.

The project became possible due to cooperation between Arkhangelsk musicians, “Music i Finnmark” with its department “Sapmi Music” and the Nenets Ethno-cultural Center in Narjan-Mar.

The sounds and melodies of the festival better than anything stressed spiritual and aesthetic similarity of the people living in the Barents. Spectacular polyphonic fantasies of Johan Sara from Kautokeino, the yoik singer and one of the most prominent sami artists put us away into the world of sounds of winds whistle, snow crunch and reindeer's screams accentuated but not harmed by the electronic settings and video performance.

The participants of monumental Nenets ensemble Njaney Syo from the small native village Krasnoye near Narjan-Mar were seemingly not simply singing but attentively and almost transcendentally were reproducing the deepest voices of their ancient ancestors – the lords of the great and eternal tundra.

The affecting melodic sounds of Russian folk songs performed by magnificent vocalist Katja Zorina outlined by brave and masterly guitar improvisations of Tim Dorofeev, intricate percussion of Mikhail Cherenkov and inimitable veteran of the Arkhangelsk stage Oleg Yudanov gently and solicitously reproduced wide and contradictory nature of the Russian northern soul.

The concert was followed by the spectacular improvisation night show in the museum of Arctic exploration where the artists demonstrated so deep and natural understanding that their willingness for further development of this cooperation became evident both for themselves and for the exalted audience.

The possibilities of making cooperation between the ethnic music performers long-term and sustainable have been discussed at the round table meeting held in the morning before the first festival concert. Except the musicians this meeting was also participated by the producers from Arkhangelsk jazz workshop, Murmansk office of the Musikk I Finnmark, Yaroslavl jazz center, the representatives of the regional cultural authorities, the heads of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat information offices in Arkhangelsk and Narjan-Mar and even the representative of the regional public support fund of the “United Russia” political party which suddenly showed an interest towards the project and even initiated this meeting.

The circle of people united around the project gives a hope that the ethnic music show will go on. Because, as the old famous song says, “Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die...” Barents peoples songs and music of yesterday should never die. We “..have to find the will to carry on... The show must go on.”

Photos: Andrey Vokuev