Folk / Folk Rock – Siberia, Buryatia.
Namgar – whose name means “white cloud” in Tibetan – grew up in a small village near the borders of Russia, Mongolia, and China, … and, under bottomless blue sky in the heart of Siberia, the songs sung by Namgar were born. As she pondered the mysteries of the great wide open and heard the spirits of mountains and forests, she realized the value of the voices of the Buryat musical tradition around her – songs of the ring, of epic heroes, fairytale beauties and the limitless grasslands… songs quickly becoming extinct. She would devote much of her life to maintaining the identity of these songs on stages around the world, as well as to translating them into a modern vernacular that betrays a jazz sensibility and routinely uses heavy, mega-groovin rock riffs. In creating this East Asian-Western fusion, Namgar is accompanied by an international group of very talented musicians, some with ancient traditional instruments, some with electric ones, and whose on-stage dress reflects characters from ancient Asian legends.
Ultimately, the music delivers something truly exotic, engaging us with infectious bass & drum lines familiar to our Western ears, while preserving and fully enlivening a wide range of the authentic ancient East Asian sounds, rooted in songs and melodies you might hear at Siberian shamanist gatherings, celebrations at a midsummer fest in Buryatia, or thru exquisite melodies in Inner Mongolia. Don’t miss this!