| Traditional music is just one aspect of a remarkable journey that has taken this nomadic spirit far from her native land, onward into film, performance art, electronica, free improvisation, dance and world music. En route, she’s collaborated with musicians as diverse as drummer Hamid Drake, saxophonist Evan Parker and duduk master Djivan Gasparian, contributing her unique synthesis of shamanism, Siberian folklore and Buddhist ritual, allied to extended vocal techniques.
Her earliest musical experiences were of khoomei, the extraordinary overtone singing practised throughout Tuva and other parts of Central Asia, and through which as many as four harmonically related pitches are fashioned simultaneously from one voice. If khoomei is the heart of Tuvan music, then this is the place to which she returns in intimate solo performance. Evocative and mystical, she summons the spirits of court singers and shamans, transporting herself back to The Steppes, and inviting you on her deeply personal journey.
“With her shaved head and seven-octave range, Sainkho Namtchylak would stand out on any stage. Add her particular mix of Tuvan throat-singing and avant-garde improvisation, and she becomes an unforgettable figure.” |