LA MINOR

Cool and jazzy urban folk... Bandits ballads...

Odessa beats... Russian chanson...

The ensemble LA MINOR was founded in summer 2000.

The ensemble performs in the style of street chanson with Russian folk, ska, jazz and Klezmer (Odessa style) influence. Once the style of LA MINOR was named as “Odessa beats”. It's the most precise determination in which LA MINOR live, create and perform.

The music of LA MINOR enriched by bayan (Russian accordion), saxophone, double bass and guitar brings you back to the atmosphere of 20-40-es Soviet years and reminds the soundtrack to good old films about gangsters, tragic love and great swindlers of that time. Happy and nostalgic in the same time their music will not leave you untouched.

Teeming with thieves and policemen, prostitutes and undercover agents, La Minor's Soviet-era street songs about the urban underworld strike an all-too-familiar chord with local art-house fans. But as the St. Petersburg band has learned on its frequent trips abroad, foreign audiences bring their own life experiences to the music.The collective consists of professional musicians.

Right from the outset, the voclaist Slava Shalygin set out to emulate urban folk guru Arkady Severny. Severny's genre, now euphemistically known as Russian chanson, surfaced from the music underground after the Soviet Union's collapse, and has since become ubiquitous in popularized renditions on radio stations, at cafes and in taxicabs. But La Minor returns to the music's roots, with the sophisticated arrangements and deadpan delivery that originally marked the gangster sound.

La Minor is known for its careful choice of material, and for ignoring the standards in place of obscure gems of folk poetry.

Gradually their work went out to bigger public and got the recognition outside of Russia. They have successfully performed in clubs in France, Germany, Finland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland.

Some festivals to mention: Bladesezomerfeesten Festival (Bladel Netherlands 2005), Eureka festival (Zwolle the Netherlands 2005), Strassenfest (Nurnberg, Germany 2005), Zebra festival (Gemert the Netherelands 2004), Odyssee Festival (Hagen, Mulheim ander Ruhr, Bochum – Germany 2004), Festival "L'ouie qui danse" (Mons, Belgium 2004), Alternative St. Petersburg (Hamburg Germany 2003), Fusion (Germany 2004), 1 May International Culture Festival (Essen Germany), Wilwarin (Kiel Germany 2006), Overload festival (Enschede, Netherlands 2006), Festival Wazemmes l’Accordeon (France 2006), Terra festival (The Netherlands 2007), Eurofolkfestival (Ingelheim Germany 2007), Festival der Regionen (Austria 2007), Mundial (The Netherlands 2008), Dunya on Tour (Rotterdam The Netherlands 2008)

In 2007 LA MINOR performed at Cannes Film festival in France, for the premier party of the premier of the film IMPORT-EXPORT.

LA MINOR are:

Slava Shalygin – vocal

Igor Boytsov – saxophone

Sanja Ezhov – bayan (Russische accordion ), vocal

Vasiliy Telegin – double bass

Vova Uspensky - gitara, banjo

Zhenja Bobrov – drums

 

http://myspace.com/laminor

View LA MINOR's EPK