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Ancestors
Oske Cherde
Barlyk River

See also: new for December 2002: More Live, the second collection of recordings from the Moscow concert.

No studio recording can compare to the experience of a HUUN-HUUR-TU concert - as countless visitors from all over the world would verify who have experienced one or more of their concerts. Therefore the idea for a live recording has been in the air for quite a while. Various concerts were recorded but none met the artists' expectations until finally in April 2001 everything came together - a place where the musicians felt at home, where they played and sang with just the right inspiriation, with one of Moscow's best recording engineers and ... spring in the air. The right time for a band that is able to electrify its listeners like no other.

"This music is both very spiritual and down to earth, grounded in a strong sense of place, yet its appeal is universal. The group bridges the gap between old and new like few others." - Dirty Linen "Huun-Huur-Tu presents the style in the context of wonderfully tuneful songs..., using instruments (igil, byzaanchi) reminiscent of banjo and fiddle. But the combination of low growling and highpitched harmonics, along with the less-than-commonplace khomuz and dazhaanning khavy make these songs particularly jawdropping." - Cliff Furnald, CMJ

About the artists (official bios from the band)
Kaigal-ool Khovalyg
An extremely talented, self-taught overtone singer, Khovalyg worked as a shepherd until the age of 21, when he was invited to join the Tuvan State Ensemble. He settled in Kyzyl and started teaching throat singing and igil. A co-founder of Huun-Huur-Tu, he left the State Ensemble in 1993 to devote his attention to the newly formed quartet. He has performed and recorded with the Tuva Ensemble, Vershki da Koreshki, the World Groove Band and the Volkov Trio. Covering a range from tenor to bass, Khovalyg is particularly known for his unique rendition of the khöömei and kargyraa singing styles.

Sayan Bapa
Sayan Bapa, child of a Tuvan father and Russian mother, grew up in the industrial town Ak-Dovurak. He received his musical training in Kislovodsk, Northern Caucasus, where he played fretless bass in a Russian jazz-rock band for several years. In the early 1990s he returned to Tuva to study his roots, and became a member of a folk-rock band, performing traditional Tuvan music on electric instruments. A co-founder of Huun-Huur-Tu, Bapa is a versatile string instrumentalist, and performs on the doshpuluur, igil and acoustic guitar. As a vocalist he is currently specializing in the kargyraa style.

Anatoli Kuular
Born in rural Chadan, Kuular was a shepherd before becoming a professional musician. Having perfected his virtuoso throat-singing abilities as a former Soviet-style concert performer of Tuvan folk music, he excels in the borbangnadyr style. He participated in two Smithsonian Folkways recordings on Tuvan music and nature sound imitations ('90 and '99). As a member of the Tuva Ensemble he traveled to the US in 1993, having joined Huun-Huur-Tu to replace Albert Kuvezin. An accomplished tenor vocalist, Kuular also performed with the Khomus Ensemble, and his instrumental expertise focuses on the byzaanchi and mouth harp.

Alexei Saryglar
Alexei Saryglar, the youngest member of Huun-Huur-Tu, joined the ensemble in 1995 to replace Alexander Bapa. He completed his musical training in Ulan Ude as a percussionist for classical and popular music, and became a member of the large Russian state ensemble 'Siberian Souvenir'. A multi-talented performer, Saryglar makes his mark as a sygyt singer, and his expertise with traditional Tuvan percussion and string instruments naturally extends into the art of piano playing. Like the other members of the ensemble, he resides in Kyzyl when not on tour.

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