Bittová

Born in 1958 in Bruntál, Morava, town that's regarded as end of the world and rough place here in Czech R., Iva have always had good relationship to music, because her father was famous Romani musician (from southern Slovakia), while her mother sang in vocal groups. So these folk & avant influences are here because of this…

Iva Bittová (born 22 July 1958) is a Czech avant-garde violinist, singer and composer. She began her career as an actress in the mid-1970s, appearing in several Czech feature films, but switched to playing violin and singing in the early 1980s. She started recording in 1986 and by 1990 her unique vocal and instrumental technique gained her international recognition. Since then, she has performed regularly throughout Europe, the United States and Japan, and has released over eight solo albums.

Hallelujah Anyway is an important retrospective of underrecognized and versatile cellist Tom Cora. A worthy eulogy, released one year after his death, this double-disc set includes songs written in his memory, songs that he composed for others, and a great cross-section of the myriad projects and musical contexts that Cora embraced. And that means a cross-section of all the creative experimenters and improvisers in avant garde rock, jazz, etc. spanning the late '70s through the late '90s. This collection includes some of Cora's solo recordings, as well as projects with John Zorn, Carlos Zingaro, Richard Teitelbaum, the Ex, Barre Philips, and the bands Curlew, Roof, Third Person (with Samm Bennett), the Chadbournes, and Skeleton Crew (with Fred Frith)…

Born in 1963 in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (ex-Yugoslavia) as part of the Hungarian minority there, Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer currently lives and works in France (since 1991). He studied piano and double bass and then continued to composition studies in the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad as a student of Rudolf Brucci and went on to The Hague in the Netherlands to complete these studies where he graduated with fellow composers Louis Andriessen and Diderick Wagenaar…

This truly is the most beautiful album the Czech label Indies has released, in every way. First, the music: The result of a group effort, the songs are filled with haunting melodies, refined string arrangements (violin, viola, cello) counterbalanced by a visceral approach to rhythm (only hand percussion and shouts), and intricate vocal interplay among the five members, all singers.

Dhafer Youssef's music is rooted in the Sufi tradition and other mystical music but has always been open to ideas from other musical cultures, including jazz. With his complex compositions and deeply affecting singing, Youssef is one of the most impressive voices to emerge in this musical field for several years. Born in Tunisia in 1967, composer, singer, and oud player Dhafer Youssef has been living and working in Vienna since 1990 with such artists as Sainkho Namchylak, Paolo Fresu, Arto Tuncboyacian, Linda Sharrock, Wolfgang Puschnig, Christian Muthspiel, Jamey Haddad, Iva Bittova, Tom Cora and other great improvisers.