PORTA 2007
VIII World music festival P O R T A
November 7 – 10, 2007
Programme
Great Guild
18:00 WOMEX film programme - Minstere hall
„Mariza and the story of fado” (Portugal)
19:00 The opening of the festival
DZELZS VILKS and FORSHPIL (Latvia)
THE SHIN (Georgia)
November, 8
Great Guild
18:00 WOMEX film programme– Minstere hall
„Mariza and the story of fado” (Portugal)
19:00 Concert
Trio GROUPA (Sweden, Norway)
NAKAIRA (Italy)
November, 9
Latvian Music Academy
11.00 Workshops of the swedish folk music and instruments
Great Guild
17:00 WOMEX film programme - – Minstere hall
„As Old As My Tongue” (Zanzibar, UK)
„Talam Vietnam” (Switzerland)
19:00 Concert
Intars Busulis and Motion trio (Poland)
MOTION SYMPHONY – Motion trio and the state orchestra „Sinfonietta Riga”
Ogre Cultural centr
19:00 Concert Trio GROUPA
November, 10
Andrejsala "Pulkvedis"
17:00 Imrovisation theatre Nav piena
WOMEX film programme
Groups
THE SHIN
In Georgian The Shin means The Road Home.
The Shin's music brilliantly unites Georgian folk tunes with jazz, the unique vocal technique of geotgian poliphonic singing with scat, Flamenco and modern Western music.
THE SHIN are Zaza Miminoshvili (guitars, panduri, song writing), Zurab J.Gagnidze (fretless electric and acoustic bass, Guruli vocals, song writing) andMamuka Ghaghanidze (vocals, percussion, song writing).
The Shin formed in Germany in 1998, where Zaza Miminoshvili and Zurab Gagnidze have lived since 1994. Mamuka Ghaghanidze joined the group in 2002. In their homeland these musicians are already living legends and belong to the artistic elite of the country.
The Shin's newest project EgAri is a collaboration with a Georgian folcloric musicians, singers and dancers. It is based on Georgian poliphony, traditional instruments, fiery Caucasian dances and European ethno-jazz. The name EgAri means: That's it! and reflects the Shin's interpretation of the Georgian folk music.
The Shin’s project “EgAri” is a collaboration with Georgian folkloric musicians, singers and a dancer. In their search for a sound that is definitively Georgian, The Shin have created a trans-regional fusion of various Georgian styles. Their project EgAri is based on Georgian instrumental music, traditional polyphonic vocals, and folk dance, and unites for the first time these quite separate segments of Georgian culture. It is an unusual, and highly non-traditional combination of archaic and modern, Caucasian and non-Caucasian instruments, elements of Georgian harmonies with diverse jazz threads.
Trio GROUPA
GROUPA is playing music for already 25 years and since 80-ies represents the avantgarde of the Swedish and Norwegian progressive contemporary folk music. GROUPA always has been very popular performing ensemble, knowing how to gain audience's love in the very first minutes of the concert and to increase it during the whole performance.
GROUPA is awarded by several folk music prizes, and it's founder and leader Mats Eden in 1992 in Music vid Siljan festival gained the title "Composer of the Year".
Mats Eden: violin, violin d'amore
Jonas Simonson: flutes
Terje Isungset: percussions
NAKAIRA
is a world music group from Sicily. You'll find some Greek, Celtic and Balcan influencies in their music. The band also performs their own compositions written in Sicilian dialect and arranged in their unique style.
Franco Barbanera: clarinett, kaval, whistles, gaita galiziana, gaida bulgara, ney
Nektarios Galanis: Greek bouzouki, oud, violin, voice
Mario Gulisano: darbouka, cajon, bendhir, daff, bodhran, rullante, voice
Angelo Liotta: Irish bouzouki, bodhran, voice
Carmelo Siciliano: chitarra, Greek bouzouki, oud
Marco Carnemolla: accoustic bass
MOTION SYMPHONY
"Motion Trio". This innovative Polish accordion trio founded in 1996 has managed to change the face of their instrument, the accordion, already. Six hands create timbres that really catch and even more surprise. Most of the music played by this 'Trio Infernal' so masterly is written by Janusz Wojtarowicz. The vanguard sound collages range somewhere between minimal music, jazz, world music, rock and meet the Notion of Motion: to redefine the accordion and explore soundscapes far beyond what one associates and experienced with this instrument so far. The three energetic musicians do this on a strictly acoustic basis, neither samplers nor additional effects are part of their concept.
In October of 2006 was the premiere of the Motion Symphony, in
Composer, accordionist, founder and the leader of the Motion Trio.
Paweł Baranek
Winner of Polish, German, Italian and other international competitions. Currently he is one of the
Marcin Gałażyn
Winner of many national accordion competitions in
World music films on tour
As Old As My Tongue
Genre: Documentary
Production Company: ScreenStation (UK)
Co-Production Company: Busara Promotions (Zanzibar)
Producer: Andy Jones
Associated Producer: Rita Ray
Director: Andy Jones
Camera: Aubrey Fagon
Editor: Lisa Cazzato
Duration: 75'
TV, Theatrical, Homevideo, DVD, Multimedia distribution : ScreenStation
Photo: Aubrey Fagon/ScreenStation, caption Bi Kidude at Heartbeat Studios, Zanzibar.
Bi Kidude is a living legend on her home island of Zanzibar and has beguiled audiences around the world on her wide and varied travels. A favourite of sultans, presidents and sailors, her story is remarkable; challenging our perception of age (she's ninety-three, going on sixteen), and of women in a Muslim society. To witness her up close in her humble home, then out on the town, smoking and flirting, is a unique experience.
Genre: Documentary
Production Company: Songlines/MWTV (United Kingdom)
Co-Production Company: RTP (Portugal)
Producer: Carl Simons
Executive Producer: Rodney Wilson
Associated Producer: Joao Barrigana
TV Director: Simon Broughton
Camera: John Howarth
Editor: Gerard Evans
Author: Simon Broughton
Recorded: 2006
Duration: 58’
A documentary filmed in Lisbon about Portuguese fado and its latest charismatic star Mariza. It features Mariza in concert and in informal clubs in Lisbon and also features archive footage of Amalia Rodrigues and other fado performers, including the first broadcast of fado on TV. With interviews with fado historians, it traces the history of the 'Portuguese Blues' since the early 19th century.
Sufi Soul – The Mystic Music of Islam
Genre: Documentary / Music
Production Companies: Songlines / MWTV (United Kingdom)
Commissioning Editor: Jan Younghusband
Producer: Carl Simons
Director: Simon Broughton
Editor: Gerard Evans
Musicians: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, Kudsi Erguner, Youssou N’Dour, Whirling Dervish group from the Galata Lodge in Istanbul
Recorded: 2005
Runtime: 50'
With a dogmatic and fundamentalist view of Muslims increasingly predominant in the Western media, there has never been a more important time to show an alternative view of Islam. Sufism is the mystical dimension of Islam that preaches peace, tolerance and pluralism. And it encourages music, which is seen as a way of getting closer to God. Sufi music is literally some of the most ecstatic in the world. This documentary by Simon Broughton looks at Sufism and its music in different part of the Islamic world – Syria, Turkey, Pakistan and Morocco. It follows the development of Sufism, reveals the views and beliefs of devotees, examines the growing threat from fundamentalist Islam and includes fantastic performances from some of the greatest Sufi musicians.
Talam: Bulgaria, Morocco, Sardinia, South-Africa, The North, Vietnam
Genre: Documentary
Production Company: TSI - Televisione svizzera di lingua italiana (Switzerland)
Co-Production Company: Myro Film (Italy)
Producer: Renzo Rota
Director: Roberto Minini-Meròt
Camera: Angelo Volponi
Recorded: 2006
Duration: 58'
TV, Homevideo, DVD distribution: TSI - Televisione svizzera di lingua italiana
“Talam” is a journey through the roots of mankind, a tour of man’s both welcoming and hostile abodes. It is an investigation of the colours and primeval sounds of music and an attempt to capture their communicative power.
Volume six of "Talam", a series of documentary films based on the music and ethnic traditions of various regions, “Talam Vietnam” is an infinite kaleidoscope portraying aspects of an ancient culture in one of the most fascinating countries of South-East Asia. The documentary itself covers almost all of Vietnam (more than 2000 km) from south to north. Extremely refined 'classical' music, candid folk music, possession rites, court dances, country festivals, stately theatre and street plays are interspersed with breathtakingly beautiful images of the countryside, rice paddies and chaotic city life crowded with people of unusual charm and simplicity.