Shanu – Senker shel (Spotify)

Chuvash ethno-jazz, rhythm and blues and fusion in the new Shanu album "Taran var".

The Shanu band presents their first full-length album "Taran var" (in Chuvash means "Deep ravine") of 8 tracks recorded in 2020-2021. It intertwined melodic lines with technical riffs, jazz harmonic progression with folk motives. There is a place for soft bossa nova and punk-rock-level expression.

The album contains arrangements of Chuvash folk songs and the group's own compositions. In the canvas of the album, you can hear elements of different world cultures and a rethinking of folk themes. So, the archaic song “Taran var”, forgotten by the people, sounded in the traditions of swing, where the main musical and expressive means is the rhythm, which was originally laid down in the song itself. In "Senker shel" ("Blue Shawl") one can feel the mutual interweaving of the Tatar and Chuvash cultures. It sounds like a lullaby, but this is not the song that a mother would sing to her child, but rather a lullaby for an adult who is sad about the transience of life. There is a place in the album for light, as if inspired by the summer wind, songs. "Atar" ("Let's go"). The track, arranged in the style of rhythm and blues, urges not to forget about fun and dancing in the monotony of everyday work. "Urapa" (translated as "Cart"), despite the classical violin introduction, is reborn into a jazz composition, breaking the rhythms with complex time signatures.

The album is available on all music platforms.

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