Biography
Atash was born in the vibrant arts and music scene of Austin, Texas, where musicians called The Gypsies began creating an exquisite fusion of world sounds as early as 1996. Quickly hailed as "Austin's best-kept secret!" (Austin Chronicle), The Gypsies earned numerous accolades for their theatre and film scores, most notably their "live" score to Tod Browning's 1929 silent thriller, The Unknown, and their incidental music to the play The Conference of the Birds, by Peter Brooks.
As personnel changed and their music evolved, in 2001 the group became Atash, a name which evokes the life-giving ritual fire of ancient Persia, and embarked on their first summer-long "Fear No Venue" tour of the American West Coast. The group quickly won the hearts of even the unlikeliest of audiences, and returned to Austin triumphant, arriving home after 24 hours crossing the desert at 7am on September 11, 2001...
The events set in motion on that date changed the course of many things, including the path of Atash. Within two weeks they were back in L.A. for a 9-11 Disaster Relief Benefit Concert at the Sunset Room, invited to perform immediately following a surprise appearance by the Counting Crows. When they returned to Austin, Atash began organizing collaborative concerts for peace with musicians from around the world. In 2002, in recognition of Atash's continual efforts for peace, the group was invited by the Texas Civil Liberties Project to open for speaker Noam Chomsky; and in 2003 by the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram to open for the trancendental speaker Ram Dass, author of Be Here, Now.
In the late summer of 2002, the churning global events inspired Atash to begin their labor-intensive debut recording project. That album -- Republic of Love -- released in May of 2003, is a mystical anthemic proclamation for the ideals of love, peace, and tolerance, and it quickly catapulted the group into a strenuous schedule of touring, first in the American Southwest, then to the Sun Moon Lake Festival in Taiwan, then back to the West Coast.
By 2004, the group was receiving regular invitations to tour around the U.S. and abroad, . appearing in Austin's SXSW festival for two years in a row (2003, 2004), earning favorable recommendations and reviews in the media, closing the summer 2004 Sunset Concert Series of the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and visiting Macau (China) in October for appearances in at the WAC fest and Fringefest.
In November of 2004, Atash and Ars Mundi began their "Global Harmony" concert series, featuring Atash in collaboration with musicians and dancers from around the world, to critical acclaim. This project is continuously under development, in preparation for touring in the U.S. and overseas, along with a children's version of "Global Harmony," and educational workshop series. Since 2005, the group has brought their collaborative work to other parts of the U. S. and to Spain, and are currently preparing for concerts in Taiwan, Canada, and Europe. Under the Global Harmony banner, the group is collaborating not only with artists, but with organizations that strive to improve global consciousness and enrich human culture.
The group's members acknowledge the privilege of having had the highest calibre of influences, and proclaim their indebtedness to the greats they as individuals have worked with, such as Youssou N'Dour, Fairouz, Ali Akbar Khan, Simon Shaheen, L. Subramaniam, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Fathy Salama, the Sun Ra Arkestra, Aashish Khan, Vigen, Francois Rabbath, Ram Narayan, Kazem Al Saher, Chuck Rainey and many other distinguished artists.
Instrumentation
Mohammad Firoozi -- Persian vocals
Roberto Riggio -- oud, violin, background vocals
John Moon -- violin, background vocals
Christian Fernandez -- Spanish vocals, flamenco guitar
Dylan Jones -- upright bass, background vocals
Alseny Sylla -- djembe
Aboubakar Sylla -- balafon and percussion
Jason McKenzie -- drumset, tabla, kanjira, doumbek
On some occasions, Atash may perform as a sextet.
For large concert events, Atash may feature guest artists, including one or more of the following artists:
Indrajit Banerjee, sitar
Gaurisankar Karmakar, tabla
Ganesh Kumar, kanjira
Subrata Bhattacharya, tabla
Kinan Abou-afach, cello
Abbos Kosimov, doira and Uzbeki percussion
Discography
ATASH debut CD-- Republic of Love, 2003
Limited edition DVD -- Global Harmony, 2005
Links
| http://www.atash.com |