The Russek Band, Turkish Band, and Belly Dancers

Hello (or Merhaba as they might say in Turkey),

I am very excited to tell you about the show we have planned this week. First off, the show is Thursday, September 23rd, at Zigs at 10PM. Zigs is located at 4531 Duke Street; phone (703) 823-2777. Cover charge is $10.

Joining The Russek Band trio for this show will be several members of The Turkish Band--and it is so VERY COOL. In addition to the musicians, several BELLY DANCERS will also be there. That is also VERY COOL.

This has been an interesting show to put together. For one, Turkish and Middle Eastern music has more tones (notes) that western music. Whereas, western music has 12 tones to the chromatic scale they have 24. It’s very interesting to see how they interpret our music and how we get around the problem of playing their scales on our instruments.

From the Turkish Band, Altan will be playing the saz. This instrument looks like a two foot egg with a broom handle sticking out of it. It has 7 strings and movable frets. It is an instrument that I have wanted to learn to play for many years. One of my favorite guitar players, Lu Edmunds, plays saz in western music. My mother gave me one a few weeks ago for my birthday. Altan also plays the long neck cumbus. The combus will remind you of a banjo.

Husnu has been a professional musician in Turkey appearing on Turkish TV for 30 plus years. He plays a kemence, which is a violin like instrument that sits on the floor like a cello. He is an incredible musician.

Brad and Eyrq play dubeks. These are very expressive hand drums. I don't think there are any other drums that have such a bright clear tone. These drums help push the unusual time signatures and rhythms along.

The show will start off as a traditional Russek Band show. We’ll try a new instrumental tune for you. As we add musicians and dancers the flavor of the music will change. During rehearsal on Saturday I was stuck by how different our songs sounded after hearing the different scales.

The dancers for the evening will be Lucy, Zareen and Cheryl. They are each going to do a different style of dance. You can find out more about Lucy here: www.lucy-dances.com

On Saturday, we will be shooting the first episode of the our new public access TV show, Music Jam. The first show is, as you might guess, The Belly Dance Show. Each month we will put together a show with a new theme and showcase other area musicians and bands.

Kind Regards,
Erich
www.russek.com
www.cdbaby.com/all/russek

If you would like to know more about Arabic Scales you might enjoy this link: www.maqamworld.com/maqamat.html
More Information about Lu Edmunds. www.mekons.de/lu.htm
I finally met Lu this year when he came through town playing with the Mekons.