Why so Maxi? NK

I am a mother with sons who are young men.  I am a sister with brothers.  I am a daughter.  This is the reason.

Maxi

Originally written by Maxi Schwarz-Bastami on January 7, 2009 5:31 PM I am a mother with sons who are young men.  I am a sister with brothers.  I am a daughter.  This is the reason.

I see now Maxi. Then I'd like to present another song, a more buoyant one... which I think will be especially suitable at the time of the current crisis...

'My granny smokes a pipe. She's got damn nothing left, she's got just three roubles in her purse but my granny smokes a pipe and when I drop in we have great fun and are happily drinking the strongest fiery rum...' 

Garik Sukachev & The Untouchables - "Моя бабушка курит трубку"
(My Granny Smokes a Pipe)

Country: Russia
Genre/Style: Rock 
Web: Official web site

NK

Perfect, Nik!   Absolutely perfect. 

Maxi

Liliana, I am an amateur musician who is still learning.  I would say Nik is the real musician around here.    I like music that has depth and substance to it.  I'm in the process of broadening my understanding of different types of music - the more I understand, the more I like.  A certain offspring of mine is responsible for opening that door. 

Maxi

Thank you Nikita, for this music.

Is this man/this group a "star" in Russia, Lithunia, somewhere? I mean, do they play him in the radio? Is he well-known?

One can hardly compare musicians but there are German ones I like a lot where text counts and often "critical" ones and there are many people who know these guys (rarely girls) but they are no real stars. You can see them on concerts where some hundred people go but you never see them in TV (or only after midnight...) - I suppose this is the same with Garik Sukachev, isn't it.

Or perhaps the mood in Russia is different - perhaps the people are more interested in good music than in "pop" music - perhaps I am totally mistaken

This mysterious "Russian Soul" you talked about in one of these posts, does it exist? My favorite writer often speaks of it and in his books I understand what he means but he is long dead....

(don*t have wodka )

Daniela

This one takes somewhat more to get used to:  Ethiopian Eskista

Country: Ethiopia
Genre/Style: Traditional Dance

The members of the band are Russians living and playing in the USA...

The Red Elvises - I Wanna See You Belly Dance

Country: Russia/USA
Genre/Style: Rockabilly Revival 
Web: Official web site
Recommended album: Surfing in Siberia (1997) ■■■□□

The Red Elvises were founded in 1995 by two Russian political refugees, singer/songwriter Igor Yuzov and actor/bass-balalaika player Oleg Bernov in Los Angeles, California. Igor and Oleg met during Russia’s Peace Walk and subsequently played together in a Russian folk-rock band called Limpopo. Believing that one can’t go wrong with "The King" Elvis Presley as an inspiration and with "red" being not only Oleg’s favorite color but the national color of their native country, the band name Red Elvises was created. Actually, it is widely believed that Igor came up with the "Red Elvises" name by seeing Elvis come to him in a dream, wearing a red dress! Igor will neither confirm nor deny the truth of that rumor.

The band’s third original member, guitarist Zhenya Kolykhanov (he later legally changed his last name to “Rock”), had also emigrated to America and had been spending time playing in Texas. For the first few months Andrey Baranov was the band’s drummer, but within that year, the first American in the band, drummer Avi Sills from Austin, Texas, was added to the lineup. The four of them got their start playing on Santa Monica’s famed 3rd Street Promenade but became so popular that they were eventually asked to leave. The reason? They drew such huge crowds that the shopkeepers complained it was interfering with business! Soon thereafter the band set forth in its quest for world domination and endless summer nights. Playing countless shows every year, they became known as one of the hardest working bands in show business, as well as being one of the nicest and most accessible.

1998 would prove to be a banner year for Red Elvises. The band released their breakthrough CD, I Wanna See You Bellydance, for which an eye-catching video, complete with professional belly dancers, was later produced. Their music filled the soundtrack of Lance Mungia’s independent film released in 1998, Six-String Samurai, a film in which they also had small roles and screen credits. It was destined to become a cult classic as well as a film singlehandledly responsible for introducing a number of current fans to the band’s immense musical talent.

In 2002 a new word was added to the English language, Rokenrol, which is not only self-explanatory when said aloud but was also the title of Red Elvises’ new CD that year. Rokenrol was recorded entirely in Russian with the exception of two songs, Juliet by Igor and Sunshine by Zhenya, both sung in English.

In 2004 Red Elvises once again reinvented themselves when the original bandmates Igor and Oleg added three new members. They were American-of-Ukranian-descent Roman Dudok on saxophone and flute, American drum virtuouso Craig Pilo and a new Russian, Alex (nicknamed Sasha), on keyboards. The band began their year by releasing their 11th CD (10 studio, 1 live), Lunatics and Poets on April 3rd. It is completely in English and reflects their musical integrity and growth, with a southern California rock ‘n’ roll sound mixed with a sound more reminiscent of their Russian roots.

Red Elvises have maintained their independent status by declining several major record deal offers, and instead have produced all their albums on their own Shooba-Doobah Records. With work in cinematography(Six-String Samurai, Mail Order Bride, Armageddon, Skippy) and Television (Melrose Place, Fastlane, Penn & Teller’s Sin City Extravaganza, VH-1 Behind the Music) along with consistent creation of high quality crowd pleasing fun music and a reputation for an energy level through the roof, Red Elvises have a bright future and remain one of the best live performance bands ever. They currently reside in Venice, California where they continue to pursue numerous film and music projects.

NK

P.S. This is my second dedication to P Ren

Is posting songs here open to all?