Vlada Tomova & Chris Rael
New York City, New York, United States
Music
Press
About Chris Rael:
"Musical and cultural fusion of the first order." – Boston Herald
"Entrancing, a brilliant, tuneful set." – Billboard
"Sliding, scalloped phrases shape Hindustani music to the concision of pop hooks... irresistible." – New York Times
About Vlada Tomova:
“Phenomenal acrobatic vocalizations.” – The Boston Globe
“Bulgarian vocal sorceress.” – NewYorkMosaico.com
“Her entrancing voice is front and center... even as dizzy beats dance around it.” – Time Out New York - various publications
Best known for his band Church of Betty's sophisticated India-influenced rock, Chris Rael debuts a new group devoted to the Ladino-language Sephardic sounds of Spain, Portugal, and Israel. Too personal to be reduced to mere "fusion," the singer and multi-instrumentalist's deeply felt new material enjoys a Balkan tinge by way of Vlada Tomova, one-quarter of the female a cappella group Lila, who kick off the evening.
Fri., May 28, 8 & 10 p.m., 2010
By Richard Gehr Tuesday, May 25 2010 - The Village Voice, New York City
Discography
Vlada Tomova discography (recent) - "Balkan Tales", "Yasna Voices", "Yasna Voices live at Symphony Space", "Balkan Beat Box"
Chris Rael discography - www.fangrecords.com
Photos
Bio
Chris Rael and Vlada Tomova sing Sephardic, Balkan, Spanish and original songs. Chris accompanies the duo on 12-string guitar, sitar, guitarra Portugese and Turkish saz. Leader of the veteran downtown New York Indo-pop group Church of Betty, he composes, writes and produces for concerts, recordings, theater and film. Vlada leads the world music group Balkan Tales, and founded New York City's Bulgarian women's choir Yasna Voices. She arrived in the US from Bulgaria in 1996 at the invitation of Berklee College of Music. The pair met performing Rima Fand's music in the theater piece 'Don Cristobal: Billy Club Man' and is now launching a contemporary Sephardic music project. Their duet repertoire ranges from these Sephardic songs, to Tomova's Balkan folk selections, to the songs of Rael's native New Mexico, to his critically acclaimed original compositions, often lacing the shapes and colors of South Asian music with musical traditions from other parts of the world.
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