Leonid Soybelman, Otomo Yoshihide, Umezu Kazutoki
Yoshigaki Yasuhiro, Sachiko M
WITH RUSSIA FROM LOVE

	mp3
order	nml 0128 CDep 2001 25’20

Leonid Soybelman is well known as the bandleader, guitarrist and singer of Ne Zhdali and Kletka Red, as a member of the duo Poza, and as a soloist. A musician with his roots in Eastern Europe, he has been active in Geneva and Berlin over the last ten years. His musicis a cross between experimental rock, improvisation and traditional Eastern European styles. In Autumn 1997, Soybelman was invited to play several concerts in Japan. There he met and collaborated with three internationally known Japanese musicians: Otomo Yoshihide, Umezu Kazutoki and Yoshinaki Yashihiro. All they needed was an hour of discussion and practice. What is the result when a European with Soybelman's background and these three Japanese musicians play together ? This CD is a documentation of the 18 minute suite from three well known russian folk songs, played with energy and power by this quartett. As a bonus, a track on which Soybelman plays amplified classical guitar and Casio 'rapman' with sampling master Sachiko M. - recorded a few days after Tokyo, in Nagoya.

In Autumn 1997 singer/guitarist Leonid Soybelman played several shows in Japan. On one occasion he teamed up with then-turntablist Otomo Yoshihide, saxophonist Kazutoki Umezu and drummer Yasuhiro Yoshigaki.
They performed a 19 minute suite of traditional Russian songs as a tribute to composer/pianist Sergey Kuryokhin, who died the year before. By the time this recording was released in May 2001, Soybelman¹s style was already far from his days with the avant-punk band Ne Zhdali. Fans of the band will find his trademark punk energy and avant craziness in this "ad hoc" quartet -- while soloing, he even ends up on a snippet of "Twist". Although a little sluggish at first, the performance is nonetheless worthy of dedicated Ne Zhdali & Kletka Red fans. To round up this EP, No Man¹s Land dug up a 6 minute untitled duet with Sachiko M recorded during the same trip. On this shockingly quiet piece (in comparison to the sonic mayhem preceding it), she plays sampler while Soybelman manipulates an amplified classical guitar. Sound quality is below average here, and the performance could not be termed as essential -- to be polite.
François Couture, All-Music Guide