Farlanders
Moments: Live in Germany
$17.99

Listen: (MP3 excerpts)
Up to the sky
Twilight
Fog

"likely to leave you appreciatively speechless" - Jim Foley, Roots World "The bass player’s grandiose performance is the constantly pulsating core of this ensemble. Kalachev connects the singer’s beguiling voice with the occasionally Celtic-like sounds of the reed instruments – bagpipes, clarinets and various flutes – and the multifaceted, rocky percussion. In the folk song arrangements and compositions by Zhelannaya and Kalachev, a delicate, sometimes even playful balance between the traditional and the modern is always perceivable. This makes the music of the FARLANDERS an original and refreshing experience – far beyond folk music pepped up with pop ingredients.” - André Hesel, Weser Kurier Bremen

About the band:
Formed in 1994 by Inna Zhelannaya, this band mainly drew from the legendary Russian rock band Alliance from the early 90s, bringing along Sergey Starostin, quite known abroad as a bright musician, and bassist Sergey Kalachev. Inna‘s powerful and perfectly pitched voice, her haunting texts, combined with superb instrumentalists makes their music uncomparable with any other bands from Russia. It is a blend of hit melodies, kicking rythms, vocal power, influence of Russian, Jewish, oriental traditions, web of clarinet and folkreed lines. She was named as one of the three top Russian female vocalists in 1993 and in 1996. Now she is recognized as one of the top female vocalists in Russia.

In 1989 Inna began her musical career working with the popular Russian rock band Alliance, which enjoyed a cult following in early 90s in the Soviet Union. At the same time Inna became a fan of the folk songs and tunes, performed by one of the best Russian folk and jazz musicians, singer and woodwind instrumentalist Sergey Starostin. Soon Starostin also joined Alliance, bringing a strong ethnic element to the band‘s music. In 1991 they released an LP, "Made in White", which subsequently appeared on CD. "Made in White" (BSA Records) included four of Inna Zhelannaya's own songs for which she also performed the lead vocals. Later, in 1994, "Made in White" was recognized as Best Rock and Pop act in the East (annual award of Radio France International). From 1990-92 Alliance participated in many international music festivals, including "Rock for Clear Water '92", toured Sweden ('90) and France ('91). While with Alliance, Inna participated in many international music projects. In 1992 American singer and guitarist Jon Humboldt Gates came to Moscow to work on his Soviet-American project, "Time Zone". Inna appeared as vocalist on the CD, "Last Nations," which came out of this project. That same year she was involved in a second project with the famous Norwegian performer Mari Boine who came to Moscow to work with Alliance.

In 1994 Inna Zhelannaya put together her own band, drawing from the former members of Alliance the bassist Sergey Kalachev and Sergey Starostin. She immediately began rehearsing with this new band and preparing material for her solo debut album. In 1996 her CD Vodorosl (Seeweed) was released by the Moscow based label General Records. This album was cited by the Russian press as one of the best releases of the year and up to now continues to enjoy wide critical acclaim and commercial success. That year, one of Inna's songs from this album, "Only You" was included on the "One World" compilation CD (Putumayo World Music label). This album included recordings by performers such as Peter Gabriel, Youssou N'Dour, Gypsy Kings, Bob Marley, Toni Childs, Johnny Klegg and others. In conjunction with this release, Zhelannaya and her band successfully toured the USA, participating in the "One World Festival" in Washington DC (together with Tony Childs, Capercaillie, Majek Fashek and Kotoja), giving concerts in New York, other East Coast states and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In 1997 Inna and her band performed at the annual Music Festival in Gent, Belgium.

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