Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
The press materials that accompany this tasty fusion of groove, world rhythms and textures, acoustic guitars (by composer Dimitri), and ethereal vocals by an enigmatic figure named Jozy are fairly grandiose. Readers are told that Kin Za Za is not a fusion of styles, not a fusion of cultures, but a fusion of feelings and different truths, even death and birth. Does the music measure up? Certainly, the trippy atmospheres and lyrical images ("The River," "I Am a Dance") conjure up images that connect the heart and mind to life and the universe — and the tracks flow effortlessly into a cool aggressive ambience. Tracks like "Endless Freedom" combine folk-like simplicity with modern synth textures, while others like "When You Arrive" are pure, intimate new age inspiration, with Jozy's vocal textures slightly reminiscent of Sarah McLachlan. Soft and delicate sounds find their way through the intriguing mix, whose ultimate mind trip is one of seductive, languid relaxation. The group name is said to be one derived from pure imagination, and no doubt creating one's own images to dream along to will make this an even more engaging experience.
- ALL MUSIC by Jonathan Widran
WOW! yeah, loved that abum! A true jewel. My favorite band so far! Appeals to every sense and beautifully produced! The CD as a whole was a massive discovery right away, on the first spin. The guitar player is certainly one of the best out there. He doesn't bludgeons you over the head to make his point. His technique is very subtle and eloquent. In a way, a beautiful and original style. Man, the way he can make an acoustic guitar SING!! Brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it! The singer (Jozy) is absolutely awesome. What a voice! Something about it that seems to be smooth, yet super huge and deep.
The DVD addition is absolutely riveting. I think this is the best music DVD ever made and every video was filmed and edited by Kin Za Za. The setting is beautiful and the images are really touching. A masterpiece. One of the best albums I have ever enjoyed. I bought this CD/DVD with extremely high expectations and every one of them was exceeded! Wonderful. I can't recommend this wonderful and beautiful work of art enough. - Amazon
Discography
"Number One in Shambala" released worldwide by EMI/Narada in 2003
"Cloud on a leash" to be released November/December 2010
Photos
Bio
KINZAZA is the brainchild of two musicians and multimedia deviants Dimitri Soukonov and Jozy Fever. Renaissance artists for the New Age, Dimitri’s and Jozy’s mastery of classical and experimental folk music, complemented with their film/theater training and experience of performing in numerous styles of music, sets them apart in a class of their own. Their music encompasses a myriad of ideas, taking inspiration from Buddhist/Sufi philosophies, Russian poetry, the psychedelics of late 60s, the pop glitter of 80s, American Country and European classical music and most importantly, KINZAZA’s personal life experiences. KINZAZA’s musical fluidity is the driving energy behind their classically-edged songs, as well as their passion to connect image with sound.
Brief notes from the past – Dimitri:
For nearly seven years before coming to Montreal, Dimitri was based in London working to create his first take on the image inspired music – ranging from designing and composing music for art installations, theater, TV, pioneering DVD authoring/mastering and making a living as cameramen/music video producer for Parlophone, Sony music, Virgin and EMI. Later he obtained his Masters in Film production at Concordia University and has done a number of audio-cinematic projects. His debut film “The last Petal of Buddha’s Lotus” was screened at the First International Film Festival at the Bauhaus Dessau academy of arts in Germany (1993) and his first music theater play “God’s world through Devil’s eyes” was performed at the Moscow House of Arts (1991) earlier the same year he composed and performed acoustic guitar score for a theater play “ Nightingale”, premiered at the Naked Angel stage (off-off Broadway) New York city (1991)
Brief notes from the past –Jozy:
Although originally raised as a dancer and gymnast, Jozy Fever also couldn’t help her fascination with cinema, theater and anything audio-visual in essence. She has spent much of her childhood singing in choirs, competing in gymnastics, creating and performing original dance pieces. She won the Festival International de la chanson de Granby song competition in 1996 and for a period of 10 years was a featured vocalist on one of the most successful variety TV shows in Canada “La Fureur” with a viewing rating of over 2 million people and performed as a singer/dancer in multi-disciplinary show “C.O.K.E” (2000). In addition to freelancing as a singer/composer for numerous TV ads and video gaming industry she has also mastered many aspects of music video production skills. With her keen attention to vocal craft and hypnotic stage presence she creates a magic of dream-telling through KINZAZA’s compositions. Her live and studio performances are just that – ultimately alive, honest, risky, with a powerful yet silky smooth spirit.
Together, KINZAZA is the audio-visual chemistry of passion, storytelling and the world without boundaries; casting its spell with finger-picking arpeggios and mesmerizing vocal performances. Jozy and Dimitri joined forces in a hot summer evening of 1998 in Montreal to create a sonic journey loosely based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Ironically, it died before it was born due to a studio fire and later a computer virus that took away the first draft of the album. Despite all these adversities KINZAZA team persevered and independently released their 2001 debut album “1 in Shambala” that featured a raw blend of Buddhists’ sensibilities and folkloric electronica, and quickly was re-released by Coeur de Lion records and later re-released again in the US and worldwide by Narada/Virgin/EMI. The album reached 2 on the World/New Age/Ambient radio charts and 12 35MM videos that accompanied “1 in Shambala” won 7 platinum awards in Salt Lake city Aurora festival and climbed to 3 on Bravo TV. The rest, is a 10 year old history of what happened, and why it happened, that can only be told by KINZAZA in a face to face manner.
Now, KINZAZA returns with a live show and an upcoming album tentatively titled as “Cloud on a leash” or “The soul of the rain” and is currently preparing a world tour to include Europe, Japan, US and Russia, whilst writing and recording for the future albums. The duo does not intend to cross cultural, stylistic and generational boundaries, in the words of KINZAZA:”…the music runs deep and descends into the caverns of people’s souls without any regard for the irrelevant practicalities of cultural and stylistic borders. The KINZAZA concern is only with hungry souls, wondering minds and the world we dream in. True survival…Salvation through music…There is nothing else. All the rest is silence to be spread over the infinite fields of our strangely beautiful Universe.
Read more: http://www.myspace.com/kzz
www.kinzaza.com
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