Ored Recordings in Adyghea

Ored Recordings records ancient Circassian songs in Adyghea.

13 August 2018

In Maykop, in school hall of the Adyghean Republican children's school of arts with name of Kim Tletseruk, there are not for the first time sounds of ancient Circassian music performed on the harmonica or on shychepshyn. Not for the first time under roof of this cultural and educational institution of Adyghea, there are performed traditional dance tunes and heroic songs of the Adyghes. Not for the first time, researcher of the traditional art of the Circassians, Honored artist of the Republic of Adyghea Zamudin Guchev takes an active part in the virtuoso concert. But this time, famous musicians and singers from Adyghea Kazbek Nagarokov and Ramazan Daurov played ancient Circassian melodies and sang the songs from the Nart epos for the team of Ored Recordings considered an independent project label of traditional music of the Caucasus.

For several years, the professional recording team of Ored Recordings from Kabardino-Balkaria with its founders Bulat Khalilov and Timur Kodzokov, as well as with photographer Makar Tereshin, has been traveling around auls, villages and cities of the North Caucasus and has been recording folk music of Caucasian peoples. This summer, on the eve of the Red Bull Music Festival which will take place in Moscow on September 15, the team records in Adyghea the Adyghe dance tunes and old songs, preparing the so-called "Circassian set". Earlier in late April of this year, the team of Ored Recordings presented at the festival of Samizdat in Moscow three cassette releases: Circassian, Abkhazian and Chechen, 33 copies each.

At this time, there were invited to participate in recording well-known musicians of Adyghea Zamudin Guchev, Kazbek Nagarokov and Ramazan Daurov. They performed on Adyghe folk instruments variations of melody of the dance "Zafak" from different auls of Adyghea, "Udzh", "Udzh-Khuray", "Khakulash", and ancient Circassian songs such as "Memed yored", "Khadzhemyzhmeu yored", and others. Some songs were performed with accompaniment on harmonica or shychepshyn, others in acapella manner. But no matter how the ancient Circassian music is played, it immerses any listener in the traditional art of the Adyghes, conveys the identity of culture of this people and allows understanding a spiritual essence of the Circassian folklore.

- We have come once again to Adyghea with one purpose to record ancient songs performed by those musicians and performers with whom we have worked for long time, - says Bulat Khalilov. – There are Kazbek Nagarokov, Ramazan Daurov and Zaur Nagoy. And this time we plan to record Adyghe harmonists who have returned to their historical homeland. We are interested in collecting different dialects of the Circassian music. Timur Kodzokov and me, we have started this project long time ago and we continue to study the ethnic music of the Adyghes, as we are Circassians, and we are interested in our culture. Yes, we adhere to this direction and we try to keep our relations with all performers of the Circassian folk music. We know the Adyghe language; we are studying the Circassian folklore, immersing ourselves in its context. But we also explore the ethnic music of different peoples of the Caucasus. We have recorded 18 albums in a few years. Everyone can find them on the Internet on our website www.oredrecordings.bandcamp.com , listen and even download for free. And in the future, they will be distributed recorded on digital media. In the near future, we will participate in the Music festival organized by Red Bull. This festival is held over the world. This year, it will take place in Moscow, and there will be presented different genres of music. One day will be devoted to folklore, and at invitation of organizers we will supervise this section. The festival will be visited by French director and cameraman Vincent Moon who came to the Caucasus, including Adyghea. We hope for participation of performers from Adyghea. Among them there are Kazbek Nagarokov and Ramazan Daurov whom we just will record today. Therefore, we invite everyone to listen to the Circassian ethnic music on the 15 September at the Red Bull Music Festival in Moscow!

Indeed, performance of the authentic music and ancient folk songs is also an art. And although on the day of recording in hall of the school of arts, there are among listeners only researchers and sound engineers, musicians perform in front of the recording equipment as well as in full audience hall. Playing on harmonica or minting the rhythm with pkhachich, slowly leading a bow on strings of shychepshyn or singing acapella an ancient song in the traditional style, they recreate an atmosphere of the Adyghe Khachesh where the Circassians were gathered in the evenings in the old days and told each other in songs stories of heroes of the Narts epic poetry or heroic events of the recent past. Listening to skilled musicians, it’s impossible not to feel charms of folk instruments: pshyne, shychepshyn and pkhachich. It’s noteworthy the Circassian harmonica on which Kazbek Nagarokov has played for several years, was offered to him by admirer of the Circassian culture, patron of arts Aslan Khashir.

As it was noted by one of founders of Ored Recordings Bulat Khalilov, Muscovites and guests of Russia's capital can hear the virtuoso performance of famous musicians from the Republic of Adyghea live on the 15 September, 2018, at Red Bull Music Festival in Moscow in framework of the section "Experimental Ethnographics set " where Vincent Moon and Rabin Beaini will participate.