Kim Sanders World Music

Kim’s Teachers

Georgi Doytchev

Bas Jobarteh

Kamil Gul

Ahmet Kaya

Sinan Celik

Kostadin Varimezov

Pece Atanasovski

Selim Sesler

“Dispite what some people think, a good teacher can teach you an awful lot. It saves a lot of time if you can start from square 17 instead of square 1. Especially since you only live once.

I owe a huge debt to my teachers especially:

Sabahattin Akdagcik, Baran Asik, Pece Atanasovski, Traiche Baldzhiev, Bob Bertles, Salih Bilgin, Sinan Celik, Ilyas Celikoglu, Timucin Cevikoglu, Don Cherry, Destan Destanovski, Georgi Doytchev, Georgi Dzhelyazkov, Kamil Gul, Ahmet Kaya, Songul Karahasanoglu-Ata, Kostas Latas, Riley Lee, Dave Leibman, Ferdi Nadas, Lazo Nikolovski, Linsey Pollak, Ahmet Sahin, Selim Sesler, Haydar Tanriverdi, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Risto Todoroski, Musa Uzunkaya, Kostadin Varimezov, Ali Yilmaz

…and to those who either inspired me or tought me indirectly, including

Allarakah, Albert Ayler, J.S.Bach, Ginger Baker, The Band, Gato Barbieri, Bela Bartok, The Beatles, The Bechuanaland Boys, Capt Beefheart, Tunji Beier, Sotiria Belou, Ed Blackwell, Blind Blake, Carla Bley, Lester Bowie, Goran Bregovic, Lord Buckley, Ray Charles, Avishai Cohen, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Fanta Damba, Miles Davis, Paul Desmond, Eric Dolphy, Don Drummond and the Skatalites, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Franco, Saffet Gundeger, Charlie Haden, Thassos Halkias, Coleman Hawkins, Jimi Hendrix, Toots Hibbert, Holiday Billie, Dave Holland, John Lee Hooker, Bobby Hutcherson, Abdullah Ibrahim, Elvin Jones, Louis Jordan, Mustafa Kandirali, Nadya Karadzhova, Salif Keita, Ali Akbar Khan, Bismillah Khan, Lord Kitchener, Mile Kolarov, Aka Gunduz Kutbay, Fela Kuti, J.B. Lenoir, Cachao and Cachaito Lopez, Mac Rebbenac, Taj Mahal, Makhona Zonke Band, Bob Marley, Bernie McGann, Charles Mingus, Zigaboo Modeliste, Thelonious Monk, Mothers of Invention, Ferrus Mustafov, Randy Newman, Tale Ognenovski, Sadrettin Ozcimi, Charlie Parker, Cole Porter, Sun Ra, Esma Redzhevopa, Django Reinhardt, Sam Rivers, Sonny Rollins, Niyazi Sayin, Pete Seeger, Archie Shepp, Igor Stravinsky, Tchico Tchikaya, Ahmet Tekbilek, neyzen Tevfik, Dafo Trendafilov, Vasilis Tsitsanis, Ali Farka Toure, Jethro Tull, Stanley Unwin, Asik Veysel, Ben Webster, Howlin Wolf, Lester Young, Frank Zappa

…and to all the musicians I have played with over the years, who have been my teachers also, and to people who have tought me all kinds of things informally. These include

Reza Achman, Hossein Allaf, Engin Arslan, Omer Avci, Epizo Bangoura, Raoul Bassa, Jose Barroso, Rigel Best, Peter Boyd, Mirslav Bukovski, Andy Busuttil, Stella Chiweshe, Sean Choolburra, Masood Davoody, Destan Destanovski, Bobby Dimitrievski, George Doukas, Glen Doyle, Melda Duygulu, Steve Elphick, Silvia Entcheva, Arif Erdebil, Hasan Esen, Christine Evans, Sandy Evans, Wayne Freer, Faramehr Farnoosh, Robert Guzmanyi, Toby Hall, Marcus Holden, Ercan Irmak, Ugur Isik, Teyfik Isiktimur, Sawung Jabo, Bas Jobarteh, Inisisri Kahanan, David Kelly, Peter Kennard, Tony Lewis, Takis Kanellos, Vahid Khoshkham Kermanshahi, Abdullah Khoshnow, Llew Kiek, Mara Kiek, Jubing Kristianto, Irfan Kurt, Laci Lakk, Hugo Leal, Libidorr Jazz Band, Zulfu Livanelli, Andonis Maratos, Mania Maratou, Linda Marr, Pape Mbaye, Con Marankozidis, John Napier, Aziz N’Diaye, Vassiliki Papageorgiou, Eylem Pelit, Rafly, Ron Reeves, Mark Robson, Theodoris Rellos, Ashok Roy, Greg Sheahan, Christopher Soulos, Simeon Shterev, Sono Seni, Bale Stojcevski, Davood Tabrizi, Okay Temiz, Traiche Todoroski, Totok Tewel, Birol Topaloglu, Ubiet, Wendy Upjohn, Robbie Varga, Carlos Villanueva and Damian Wright” – Kim Sanders

Kim teaches gaida, kaval, mey, duduk, ney, Turkish Classical, theory and “World Music” privately, and also conducts workshops. He has conducted workshops and lectured at conservatoriums, universities and festivals in Turkey, China, Indonesia and throughout Australia. Designed and performed multicultural programmes in primary and secondary schools with Musica Viva and Victorian, Queensland and Northern Territory Arts Councils. He was co-author of Resources Kit book accompanying Nakisa’s work in schools with Musica Viva.

Tags: Abdollah Khoshnow, Ahmet Kaya, Ahmet Sahin, Ali Yilmaz, Andonis Maratos, Andy Busuttil, Arif Erdebil, Ashok Roy, Aziz N’Diaye, Bale Stojcevski, Baran Asik, Bas Jobarteh, Birol Topaloglu, Bob Bertles, Bobby Dimitrievski, Carlos Villanueva, Christine Evans, Christopher Soulos, Con Marankozidis, Damian Wright, Dave Leibman, David Kelly, Davood Tabrizi, Destan Destanovski, Don Cherry, Don Hopkins, Engin Arslan, Epizo Bangoura, Ercan Irmak, Eylem Pelit, Faramehr Farnoosh, Ferdi Nadas, Firoozeh Farnoush, George Douka, George Doukas, Georgi Doytchev, Georgi Dzhelyazkov, Glen Doyle, Greg Sheahan, Hasan Esen, Haydar Tanriverdi, Hossein Allaf, Hugo Leal, Ilyas Celikoglu, Irfan Kurt, John Napier, Johnny Gray, Jose Barroso, Jubing Kristianto, Kahanan Inisisri, Kamil Gul, Kostadin Varimezov, Kostas Latas, Laci Lakk, Lazo Nikolovski, Libidorr Jazz Band, Linda Marr, Linsey Pollak, llew kiek, Mania Maratou, Mara Kiek, Marcus Holden, Mark Robson, Masood Davoody, Melda Duygulu, Mirslav Bukovski, Musa Uzunkaya, Musica Viva, Nakisa, Okay Temiz, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Omer Avci, Pape Mbaye, Pece Atanasovski, Peter Boyd, Peter Kennard, Rafly, Raoul Bassa, Reza Achman, Rigel Best, Riley Lee, Risto Todoroski, Robbie Varga, Robert Guzmanyi, Ron Reeves, Sabahattin Akdagcik, Salih Bilgin, Sandy Evans, Sawung Jabo, Sean Choolburra, Selim Sesler, Silvia Entcheva, Simeon Shterev, Sinan Celik, Songul Karahasanoglu-Ata, Sono Seni, Stella Chiweshe, Steve Elphick, Takis Kanellos, te3acher, Theodoris Rellos, Timucin Cevikoglu, Toby Hall, Tony Lewis, Totok Tewel, Traiche Baldzhiev, Traiche Todoroski, Tunji Beier, Ubiet, Ugur Isik, Vahid Khoshkam Kermanshahi, Vassiliki Papageorgiou, Wayne Freer, Wendy Upjohn, workshops, Zulfu Livanelli
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments » on August 7th, 2009

Review of Bent Grooves CD Launch, Sound Lounge, Sydney, 9th May 2008

Such was a celebration of various cultures through regional music, a reflection of the endless pursuit of diversity for Kim Sanders. Whilst performances sharing the theme of diversity have not gone un-acknowledged over the past decade, it felt to me like the shackles of the Howard monoculture had finally been broken during this performance which represented more than just creative music but friendship, inclusiveness, respect and genuine inter-cultural collaboration. Sanders might look like a gypsy with his long greying locks, his Bohemian garb and his goat skin bags but his manner and his dialogue is as Aussie as the next bloke and this fact almost defies the reality of his ability to converse in several languages across the Asian, European and African continents, let alone his ability to foster musical conversations in as many languages using over 14 wind instruments.
Along with Kim Sanders, the core quartet of the ‘Friends’ include Sandy Evans tenor and soprano saxophones, Bobby Singh tabla and Steve Elphick double bass. They opened with Heyamoli a Northern Turkish lament which saw Kim playing Turkish gaida (bagpipe) and Sandy in unison on tenor.
Next they performed the suite A Journey in Saba Makam. The ney is a sufi flute made of bamboo which Sanders freely improvised the first movement Bas Taksim over a singular Elphick drone followed by the additive of Evans and Singh. Such was Evans sensitivity on tenor during the second movement Saba Nefes I that her shadowing was simply an additional tonal flavour of the smokey fluted melody. The final movement showcased the awe-inspiring talent of Singh on tabla.
Sanders who is also a keen surfer, at one time took up the boogie board instead and soon found that serious surfers refer to them as a Speedbump but what commenced as a gypsy jam ended up a Congolese groove thanks mainly to the synchronicity of both Singh and Elphick.
Yet another continent was thrown into the mix with the addition of Chilean Carlos Villanueva and his Andean charango playing the flamenco tinged The Bad Bodgie Bulerias. With an almost clenched fist, Villanueva’s finger nails rapidly raked the repeated four chords of this piece on this instrument of only ukelele dimensions. By now parts of the capacity crowd were shrieking.
Kay Yagar which is interpreted as ‘snow is falling’ was a further showcase of Sanders skills; this time on the double reeded flute, the mey. His circular breathing and tonguing of this instrument created a spellbinding vibrato which preceded his swap to the bagpipes. Another dimension of this piece was the addition of Llew Kiek from the renowned band Mara! on the baglama or Turkish lute.
Istanbul Blues allowed Sandy Evans on tenor a precursor of what was to come on Oi Havar where she simply soared, taking the audience with her on a carpet ride of freedom and joyous expression.
When George Doukas arrived on stage the battle of the bouzouki’s began with Kiek choosing his own richly decorated axe. While Doukas proved a virtuoso, nothing was going to prepare us for the arrival of the final friend Bobby Dimitrievski on clarinet who displayed an agility on the instrument which is rarely witnessed. Following a standing ovation the group finally returned to the stage for a fitting finale. But what was probably the most musically intuitive passage of the performance came after Evans (during her solo) cried to Dimitrievski to ‘join in Bobby’. The result was a lesson to us all in genuine conversation where listening is just as important as speech when the magic of their respective instruments interwove a singular dialect of perfect harmony.
This was nothing less than a triumphant performance by Kim Sanders and Friends

- Peter Wockner, Jazz and Beyond, May 08 (www.jazzandbeyond.com.au)

Tags: baglama, Bent Grooves, Bobby Dimitrievski, Bobby Singh, bouzouki, bulerias, Carlos Villanueva, charango, Congolese groove, drone, flamenco, gaida, George Doukas, Gypsy, llew kiek, makam, Mara!, ney, saba makam, Sandy Evans, Steve Elphick, tabla, Turkish, wind instruments
Posted in Gigs and News | No Comments » on August 7th, 2009

Kim’s CDs

Bent Grooves

Magical collective improvisation framed by lush melodies and anchored by hypnotic rhythms, drawing from the traditions of Turkish Sufi and folk music, Balkan Gypsy brass bands, West African grooves, Indian Classical music, flamenco, blues and jazz.

Featuring (in order of height):

Sandy Evans: soprano and tenor saxes
Carlos Villanueva: charango
Bobby Singh: tabla
Kim Sanders: ney, Turkish gaida, aardvark, kaval, mey, tenor sax, saluang
George Doukas: bouzouki, Greek baglama
Llew Kiek: Turkish baglama
Steve Elphick: double bass

The CD was produced by Tony Gorman, engineered by Ross A’Hern and mastered by Paul Bryant. The project was assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding advisory body.

What the critics say about Bent grooves

“That asinine term ‘world music’ actually acquires some meaning when applied to the art of Kim Sanders. The Sydney multi-instrumentalist has stewed in musical melting pots from Indonesia to Gambia and is especially steeped in the sounds of Turkey and Eastern Europe. Having absorbed these traditions, he plays within or without them as suits his creative impulses.

Sanders’s long-term collaboration with tabla player Bobby Singh stretches the sonic world of Asia Minor eastward, towards the subcontinent, just as Steve Elphick’s bass and Sandy Evans’s saxophone bring jazzier sensibilities to bear. But Sanders never forces square pegs into round holes and his musical imagination unfolds with a marvellous fluidity, like a river being fed by many tributaries, with the main flow mingling beautiful, often melancholy melodies with evocative rhythms and exotic textures.

His own braying tenor saxophone, assorted wistful flutes and sometimes imperious bagpipes radiate a joy in having such open dialogues with his gifted collaborators; dialogues that have been superbly recorded.” – John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald

“What I wouldn’t give to have friends like these!…Bent Grooves is an instrumental CD, beautifully measured and layered” – Jaslyn Hall, ABC Limelight Magazine

“No ‘world fuzak’ here!” – Doug Spencer, Producer, The Weekend Planet, ABC Radio National

Click here for samples!

Trance’n'Dancin

Kim Sanders’ CD Trance’n'Dancin is an exploration of trance music, from the etherial flights of the ney flute used in the rituals of Turkey’s Mevlevi Dervishes to the hypnotic dance-rhythms of the Balkans. It also features the world’s first composition for Bulgarian bagpipe and Hammond organ.

Featuring Kim Sanders: Turkish ney (Sufi flute), kaval (Bulgarian wooden flute), Bulgarian and Turkish gaidas (bagpipes), aardvark (Turkish/Bulgarian/Australian hybrid bass bagpipe), mey (Turkish double reed), saluang (Sumatran flute) & Peter Kennard: dhaf, bendir, darabukka, megabukka, riq, zills, gong-on-a-mattress, wood-blocks, dried budgies, surdo, ride cymbal, harmonium, keyboards, chan, another cymbal

What the critics say about Trance’n'Dancin

“Sublime, haunting…The album is a beautifully shaped journey from the spacious taksims to fast and upbeat dance tunes… Sanders has spent years studying the music of Turkey and the Balkans and his passion and skill for this music are clearly evident in this superb album.” – Oonagh Sherrard for www.indie-cds.com

“There is a profound dignity about the expression of sadness in Turkish music. With neither histrionics nor sentimentality, the sadness is distilled into beauty. Kim Sanders has immersed himself in this culture for years and achieves an extraordinarily haunting sound on ney (Dervish flute) for the rubato improvisations on this haunting album. He is accompanied by Peter Kennard, whose realisatons of the slowest tempos in tricky time signatures is a marvel of meditative concentration and execution.” – John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald

“What stirs you throughout this album is the realisation that the breath is what brings you closer to God, that is the ‘ruh’ or the soul. Kim’s brand of music is based on the movement of breath and an inner connection to the mind and spirit. The album is a must for world music conoisseurs and anyone who enjoys the world of Islam.” – Kuranda Seyit, Australia Fair, Dec 05

“A major part of this album is a modern interpretation of Traditional Mevlevi (Whirling Dervish) and Balkan dance music. Yet it loses none of the meditative and languid qualities of the original trance music…The real beauty of the album is the way that the bulk of the tracks achieve the near impossible feat of exuding a sound that is elegiac but at the same time spirited. The hauntingly beautiful “Gidemem Siraza Ben” is almost heartrending in this technically masterful and emotionally uplifting intertwining of the plaintive with the exuberant… Multi- instrumentalist Kim Sanders achieves total command over all his instruments and together with Peter Kennard has produced a masterful album which is an ideal vehicle for a breakthrough to a wider audience.” – Dush Perera, Jazz’n'Blues www.corporatenews.com.au

“This is an energetic and distinctive blend of virtuoso playing from multi-instrumentalist Kim Sanders, masterfully accompanied by Peter Kennard’s magic trunk of percussion… Trance’nDancin features several different fascinating musical styles – Sufi meditations, Turkish lullabies, trance music, folk tunes- as well as an enigmatic track, “Solitary Circumambulation”, which Sanders claims is the world’s first composition for gaida (Balkan bagpipes) and Hammond organ. Sanders is a relentless champion of world music and this CD celebrates the freshness and sheer excitement of the Balkan and Turkish traditions with added new twists and a funky rhythm section to create a joyful session of music for listening or dancing” – Jas Hall, ABC Limelight Magazine

You Can’t Get There From Here

Kim Sanders and Friends’ ARIA-nominated CD You Can’t Get There From Here showcases traditional pieces from the Balkans and Middle-East and original pieces including “Hepimiz Deliyiz” (”We’re All Crazy”), first performed at the Ataturk Cultural Centre with the Istanbul State Modern Folk Music Ensemble, 2001. Demented Gypsy-style collective improvisation, Indo-Turkish grooves and more…

Kim Sanders: ney, kaval, mey, duduk, saluang, Bulgarian and Turkish gaidas, aardvark, tenor sax, gong Bobby Singh: tablas Sabahattin Akdagcik: baglama, oud, yayli tambur Steve Elphick: double bass Peter Kennard: percussion and Epizo Bangoura: djembe, balafon.

What the critics say about You Can’t Get There From Here

This is a dream of an album, full of emotion and skill – Carina Prange, Jazz Dimensions (Germany)

I was immediately conquered by the beauty of the arrangements, the high degree of musicianship and the perfect selection of the tunes featured there – Massimo Ferro, Radio Voce Spazio (Italy)

A gem …Great sounds, textures, clever improvisation over tricky rhythms, an album for conoisseurs – Dieter Bajzek, Folk Alliance Australia

A beautifully-balanced mixture of traditional and contemporary sounds from Turkey, West Africa, India and the Balkans …A fantastic array of moods and charms – K S Seyit, Australian Muslim News

Plenty of beautiful, breathcatching moments – Craig N. Pearce, Drum Media

You are sure to want to linger in this musical mystery land – Bernard Zuel, Sydney Morning Herald

Deliciously eclectic! – Doug Spencer, Producer, The Planet, ABC Radio National

Buying Kim’s CDs

Bent Grooves, Trance’n'Dancin and You Can’t Get There From Here are available directly from Kim at kimzgaida@hotmail.com or from:

Indie-CD’s www.indie-cds.com
Trad & Now www.duckscrossing.org/tradshop
Birdland (Sydney city) www.birdland.com.au
So Music (Newtown, NSW) www.somusic.co.za
Lamdha Books (Wentworth Falls, NSW) www.lamdhabooks.com.au
Mr V Music (69A Semaphore Road, Semaphore, SA. Tel 08 8341 5234)

Also available:

Silvia Entcheva Trio: The Donkey Drank Wine

Silvia Entcheva: vocals

Kim Sanders: gaida, kaval, tupan, backing vocals

Llew Kiek: tambura, bouzouki, keyboards, backing vocals

Traditional vocal and instrumental music from Bulgaria.

And from the Archives:

There are still a few copies available of pioneering Australian World Music group Nakisa’s Camels in the City CD and Nakisa’s first album Insallah (LP format only – classic vinyl!)
Unfortunately Brassov’s CD Chronic Rhythmosis and GengGong’s Not Just Music are sold out and no longer available.

Kim has also recorded with:

Phanari tis Anatolis, Oppie Andaresta, Oguz Yilmaz, Setiawan Djody, Flamenco Dreaming, Indiajiva, Tansey’s Fancy, Seaweed and Wire, Chichitote, Caiseal Mor, Rick-e-Dee, Bob Wheatley, Sabahattin Akdagcik’s SASOM, David Hobson, Blair Greenberg, Roger Mason, Rabadaki, Tony Lewis/Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre, Turkish Art Music Ensemble, Global Roots, ABC Childrens’ series “0-9″ and others…

Tags: aardvark, ABC Childrens' series "0-9", balafon, Balkan Gypsy music, bendir, Bent Grooves, Blair Greenberg, blues, Bob Wheatley, Bobby Singh, bouzouki, Brassov, Caiseal Mor, Camels in the City, Carlos Villanueva, chan, charango, Chichitote, Chronic Rhythmosis, darabukka, David Hobson, dhaf, djembe, double bass, dried budgies, duduk, Epizo Bangoura, flamenco, Flamenco Dreaming, folk music, GengGong, George Doukas, Global Roots, gong-on-a-mattress, Greek baglama, harmonium, hybrid bass bagpipe, Indiajiva, jazz, kaval, keyboards, llew kiek, megabukka, Mevlevi Dervishes, mey, Nakisa, ney, Not Just Music, Oguz Yilmaz, Oppie Andaresta, oud, Peter Kennard, Phanari tis Anatolis, Rabadaki, Rick-e-Dee, ride cymbal, riq, Roger Mason, Sabahattin Akdagcik's SASOM, saluang, Sandy Evans, Seaweed and Wire, Setiawan Djody, Silvia Entcheva, Silvia Entcheva Trio, soprano sax, Steve Elphick, sufi music, surdo, tabla, Tansey's Fancy, tenor sax, The Donkey Drank Wine, Tony Lewis/Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre, Trance'n'Dancin, Turkish Art Music Ensemble, Turkish baglama, Turkish gaida, Turkish music, West African music, wood-blocks, yayli tambur, You Can't Get There From Here, zills
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment » on April 6th, 2009