The first nearly-unplugged gig is at St Luke’s Church Hall in Enmore on Saturday May 26 , the second in an even more intimate setting in Leura on Sunday May 27.

Mey virtuoso Songul Karahasanoglu

Songul is professor of Mey at the State Conservatorium in Istanbul and was one of Kim’s teachers on his many trips to Turkey since 1984. She has taught and performed in the US, but this is her first trip to Australia. Mey is a Turkish double reed instrument similar to the Armenian duduk.

Kim has studied , recorded and performed in Turkey, the Balkans, West Africa, Indonesia and China. A true Australian World Music pioneer, he will be playing gaida (Bulgarian bagpipe), Ganesha (hybrid Bulgarian-Turkish-Australian-Balinese hybrid bagpipe), kaval (long wooden Bulgarian-Turkish flute), ney (long cane flute used by ‘whirling dervishes” (Mevlevi Sufis).

Tabla-player Bobby Singh is well-known to Australian and overseas audiences for his performances of Hindustani Classical music as well as many varieties of “world fusion” music.

The trio will draw from a variety of musical sources including Turkish Classical, Balkan and Turkish folk, traditional music from Central Asia and Classical Hindustani music. There will also be strange and uncategorizable originals. These are musicians with a deep knowledge of their sources. As Doug Spencer (Weekend Planet (ABC Radio National) says: No“world fuzak” here!

St Luke’s Church, 11 Stanmore Rd, Enmore
7pm – 9pm, Saturday May 26
$20/15
No bookings – get there early to be sure of a seat!
Drinks and snacks available before the show and at interval
This concert would not be possible without the assistance of Kinetic Energy Theatre Company

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Private and intimate house party at Leura in the Blue Mountains
5pm – 7pm, Sunday May 27. Address on booking.
Includes famous complimentary Palace chai. BYO snacks and drinks if you wish

Donation $25/20 ($5 discount if you don’t park in the street of the house – friendly neighbour policy!)
Limited seating – entry by booking only: meg.musichunter@gmail.com

For more info, to arrange interviews etc see www.kimsandersworldmusic.com

FIRST CONCERT: St Luke’s Church, 11 Stanmore Rd, Enmore 7pm – 9pm, Saturday May 26 SECOND CONCERT: 5pm, Sunday May 27 at a private house party in Leura (address given upon booking)

Kim Sanders will join regular collaborators Bobby Songh and Llew Kiek, together with Kim’s visiting mey teacher Songul Karahasanoglu and a cast of thousands (including the Song Company, Shohrat Tursun, Wang Zheng Ting, Mina Kanaridis, Michael Askill and more) in The Hall at the National Museum of Australia.

7.30 Sunday May 13

Tickets $65/59 (02 6275 2700)

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Kim Sanders & Ron Reeves play serene Turkish Sufi meditations, frantic Bulgarian dance grooves, strange, bent originals…sounds and rhythms that will take your breath away.

Multi-instrumentalist Kim Sanders has studied, performed and recorded in Turkey, the Balkans, Indonesia and China, performing in Gambia with kora-player Bas Jobarteh and Libidorr, in Istanbul with Zimbabwean singer Stella Chiweshe, percussionist Okay Temiz and the Istanbul State Modern Folk Music Ensemble, in Beijing with Chinese fusion band Tianchuang and in Indonesia with many groups including Sono Seni. He played tenor sax with Okapi in 90/1. He is a specialist in traditional music from the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Percussionist Ron Reeves lived and studied for many years in Indonesia, and specialises in traditional instruments from West Java and South India. In a long and varied career Ron has played with the Trilok Gurtu, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Nigeria’s Lebe Olarinjo Masqueraders, the Karnataka College of Percussion, Billy Cobham and Hossam Ramzy. He has toured Indonesia several times with Kim in GengGong and Trio Dingo.

Kim and Ron have been invited to tour Indonesia in November.

* Kim Sanders: ney (Sufi flute), gaida (Bulgarian bagpipe), ganesha (Bulgarian-Turkish-Australian bagpipe), kaval (Bulgarian wooden flute), mey (Turkish double reed instrument)
* Ron Reeves: darabukka (Eastern European goblet drum), kanjira (Indian frame drum)

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The second part of the double bill is the OKAPI GUITAR BAND featuring Tanzanian singer Paul “Mr Paul” Mbenna and special guest legendary Ghanaian horn player Eddie Quansah.

Live African Music in Sydney has been revived: Recently Paul Mbenna has joined the Okapi Guitar Band as a lead singer. With their 25 year-long expertise in African electric guitar grooves, the Okapi Guitar Band together with Paul are providing an authentic, exciting African dance experience with a new focus on Swahili music from East Africa

The Empire Hotel
103A Parramatta Rd, Annandale
Doors open 6.30 for 7pm start
Sunday March 25
$20/15 conc
Bistro food available

To arrange interviews, Hi-Res photos or more info about Kim and Ron: www.kimsandersworldmusic.com or contact Kim at kimzgaida@hotmail.com

For info on The Okapi Guitar Band http://www.okapiguitars.com/ or contact Bernhard at bernhard@okapiguitars.com

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Stay tuned for Kim Sanders & Friends’ next gig.

Mustafa Karami

“We’ve had some Persian and Kurdish tunes in the repertoire for a while – including Persian reggae” says Kim “but this gig will give us a chance to learn a few new grooves. Mustafa and I played together in Davood Tabrizi’s Far Seas last year, and hopefully that will be an ongoing project too. Llew Kiek has also played some Iranian music over the years, and Peter Kennard is a great frame-drum player, so there should be a lot of things happening”.

There will also be music with a Balkan Gypsy brass band feel, driven along by Sam Golding’s sousaphone.

Kim Sanders: ney, kaval, gaida, saxofon
Llew Kiek: bouzouki, baglama, oud
Sam Golding: sousaphone
Peter Kennard: percussion
and special guest Mustafa Karami bringing a taste of Persian nights on oud, vocals and percussion

Friday 10th February 2012
Camelot Lounge
19 Marrickville Rd (cnr Railway Pde, 2 mins walk from Sydenham station)
Marrickville, NSW
Entry: $25/$20

Doors open 7.30 for 9 pm start

Bookings: http://www.trybooking.com/BDAJ

Fully licenced. Pizzas, mezzes, snacks and sorbets available.

For more info http://www.camelotlounge.com/

World Music pioneer Kim Sanders has become the first Australian to have a composition of Turk Klasik Muzigi (Turkish Classical Music) published in Turkey.

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“Saba Saz Semai” has been published on www.neyzen.com, a website dedicated to the ney, the flute used by the Mevlevi Order of Dervishes, known as the Whirling Dervishes. It contains an extensive archive of Turkish Classical and Sufi music.
Sanders first visited Turkey in 1984, and has returned many times since to study and perform. Originally interested in Gypsy and folk music, he began his studies in ney and Turkish Classical Music in 1993.
“A makam is the equivalent of a raga in Indian Classical Music,” he says. “I have been studying Saba Makam for nearly twenty years now, and I felt I knew it well enough to attempt a formal composition. It is a great honour to be published by Neyzen.com.”
Kim will be performing on ney and a variety of other instruments with Kim Sanders & Friends at the Sound Lounge in the Seymour Centre on Friday December 9th.

For more info, HiRes photos, to arrange interviews etc contact Kim at kimzgaida@hotmail.com or +61 2 9569 4203

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“The thing about Steve is, wherever the music takes us – and in this band we go to some places that might seem pretty strange to some people – Steve always plays so musically” says Kim. “Tonally, melodically, rhythmically. He’s a great improviser, and has been playing various kinds of ‘world music’ – how I hate marketing terms! – for long enough to be able to play without thinking about the sources he has internalised. And I have been playing with Steve, Sandy and the others for so long now that we can all forget that stuff, and just play! That’s when the magic happens!

A lot of my tunes consist of a circular bass-line, a melody-line and a rhythm. The bass-line holds it all together. When you have a bass-player like Steve, when you are improvising, you always know exactly where you are, even though the tune might be in 13/8 or 17/8, because the feel is there. It’s like a Cuban son tune – Cachao Lopez never plays the bass-line the same way twice but the feel is there, all right! The African infinite-minute-variation approach.

We’ll be sorry to see him go, but we’ll all be fired up at the gig!”

In a career spanning more than twenty-five years Kim Sanders has performed with Gypsy wedding bands in Macedonia, studied with Sufi ney-masters in Turkey, played in mosquito-infested night-clubs in Gambia, tavernas in Greece, concert-halls indonesia and China and on national radio in Bulgaria.

The occasion is also an opportunity for the band to perform with two drummers, Toby Hall, a regular at the Sound Lounge and Peter Kennard, a superb colourist and a master of the frame drum. Together with Steve, it’s a dynamite rhythm section! They will be joined by saxophonist Sandy Evans, herself an explorer in many World Music idioms including the Classical Carnatic tradition of Southern India.

* Kim Sanders: Ganesha (hybrid Bulgarian/Turkish/Balinese/Australian bagpipe), ney (Turkish Sufi flute), kaval (Bulgarian wooden flute, mey (Turkish double reed), tenor sax
* Sandy Evans: tenor and soprano saxes
* Steve Elphick: double bass
* Toby Hall: drums
* Peter Kennard: dhaf (Middle-Eastern frame drum), darabukka (Balkan/Middle-Eastern goblet drum), percussion

8.30 – 11pm
Friday Dec 9
The Sound Lounge
The Seymour Centre
Cnr City Rd & Cleveland St
Chippendale
$20(non-member) – $15 (member) – $10 (student)
Details and on-line bookings at www.sima.org.au

For HiRes photos, to arrange interviews etc contact Kim at kimzgaida@hotmail.com

This is the second in the Elphick’s Last Stand series put on by Sydney Improvised Music Association. The first will feature Steve with “The World According to James” at the Sound Lounge on Saturday November 26. Details, bookings at www.sima.org.au

Kim will be joined by Peter Kennard to perform and talk about Turkish and Middle-Eastern music for the Oriental Society of Australia at the Efendy Turkish restaurant in Balmain on December 9.

There will be plenty of seriously bent Balkan Gypsy-style brass-band music amongst the band’s unique mix of Sufi meditations, Afro-grooves and dance tunes of Middle-Eastern appearance.

Kim with Gypsy wedding band, Berovo, Macedonia, 1985

Following their rapturously-received duo gig in Enmore in September, Kim Sanders and Bobby Singh will be doing something a little different with Kim Sanders & Friends at the Empire. This will be Bobby’s last gig in Sydney for a while, as he is returning to India to perform and study with his guru Aneesh Pradhan. They will be joined by Kim Sanders & Friends stalwart Llew Kiek, and tuba/sousophone-player Sam Golding, making his debut with the band.

There will be plenty of seriously bent Balkan Gypsy-style brass-band music amongst the band’s unique mix of Turkish Sufi meditations, Afro-grooves and dance tunes of Middle-Eastern apearance.

Since first travelling to the area in 1984, Kim has spent a lot of time in Turkey and the Balkans playing Romani (Gypsy) music. “Sometimes stereotypes are true – and it’s a good thing! Those guys can really play!” he says. “The best music comes after the gig, of course, when they let their hair down. They’ll party all night!”

World Music pioneer Kim Sanders has performed with Gypsy wedding bands in Macedonia, in mosquito-ridden nightclubs in Gambia, smoky tavernas in Greece, on National Radio in Bulgaria and at concert-halls and recording studios in Turkey, China and Indonesia. He has played with Zimbabwean mbira-player Stella Chiweshe, The Bisserov Sisters (Bulgaria), Zülfü Livaneli, Fatih Kisaparmak, Okay Temiz, Birol Topaloglu, the Istanbul State Modern Folk Music Ensemble (all Turkish), Oppie Andaresta and Setiawan Djodi (Indonesia) and many others. In Australia he has performed with musicians from every continent except Antarctica.

Bobby Singh’s talent was recognised at an early age by Pandit Nikhil Ghosh, and is now a “must see” performer on the world music circuit as well as the Indian Classical scene. He has performed with Ashok Roy, Slava Grigoriyan, Joseph Tawadross and many cross-cultural ensembles including Flamenco Dreaming, the Far Seas and The Bird. He currently works with Circle of Rhythm and Dha, amongst others.

Multi-instrumentalist Sam Golding (trumpet, tenor horn, trombone, sousaphone, flutes, ukelele) performs in many musical settings from Senegalese Mbalax through traditional music from the Balkans, jazz small groups, reggae and cabaret. He is currently working hard with the bands Darth Vegas, The Glorious Sousaphonics, The Fantastic Terrific Munkle, Tango Saloon and The Mango Balloon.

Another Australian World Music pioneer, Llew Kiek (bouzouki, bağlama, guitar, tambura, keyboards) has recorded 10 albums and performed in 20 countries with ARIA-winning folk-jazz group Mara! In Australia he has worked with The Bisserov Sisters, Tenzing Tsewang, Silvia Entcheva, Martenitsa, Nakisa, the Renaissance Players, Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre and singers Jeannie Lewis and Margret RoadKnight.

Destan Destanovski

Dedicated to the memory of Rom musician Destan Destanovski of Berovo, Macedonia

THE EMPIRE HOTEL

103a  PARRAMATTA RD, ANNANDALE

7pm

SUNDAY OCTOBER 30th

$20/15 conc (Children welcome if accompanied by an adult)

Bistro food available

KOOCH (Persian meaning journey or migration):
An extrordinary music event celebrating the migration of Gypsy people around the globe.
Davood Tabrizi is an accomplished composer and performer from Iran. Trained in Western Classical and Persian Classical music, he has written, recorded and performed music extensively in Australia, Iran, Canada and the USA.

Tonight Davood brings together the most amazing world musicians in Australia -

Bobby Singh – tabla master; Aria award winner; disciple of Aneesh Pradhan; most sought after world musician
Kim Sanders – saxophone/wind instruments; studied Turkish Classical, Sufi, Gypsy and folk music
Metin Yilmaz – composer from Turkey; Kurdish master of kaval (trad flute)+ zorna; toured Middle East, Europe
Sukhi Singh – studied under Indian masters (Pandit Ashok Roy); recorded numerous classical/fusion albums
Boyd – clarinet/brass; composer/performer in theatre/film/radio; Sydney Con. graduate of Jazz Studies course
Mustafa Karami – Persian born daf and oud player & vocalist; best daf player award (Iran 2005,’06,’07)
Damian Wright – flamenco guitarist; studied extensively in Spain; founded Sydney-based ‘Bandaluzia’
Zoe Velez – flamenco singer and dancer; performed with several Australian flamenco ensembles
Jrisi Jusakos – Middle Eastern belly dancer; studied oriental belly dancing, flamenco and classical Indian dance

What the audience thought of ‘Kooch’:
“The music was truly magical” Anna
“…a combination of the best musicians – I’ve never seen anything like it!” Leo
“This is the best Cafe Carnivale concert ever” Lisa

NOTES
75 Enmore Road
Newtown, 2042

Info & Bookings:    http://noteslive.net.au (02) 9557 5111

Sat Oct 8th. Doors open and dinner 7, music starts 8.45.