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andrew arrives for another khiimori recording session

a couple wearing traditional dels for tsagaan sar

bogd uul in the snow

ice-warrior sculptures next to the bayangol hotel

mongol messenger article

close-up of ubop discussing set lists at mealody

Speaking of audio excerpts, some of the opening concert of the 2006 Giant Steppes Festival has now been uploaded to www.jazzmongolia.com. Just follow the link to AUDIO and have a listen when you have a few minutes to spare. There are also some Khiimori audio clips from improvisations I've recorded with Andrew Colwell last year and most recently on January 27th. More to come soon, too.

Sat February 17th 2007
"Amar bain uu?" - Are you in peace? ... " Targan orj saikhan shinelev uu?" - Is your livestock fattened up nicely? Are you having a good celebration? ... "Dahga dalantai byaruh bulchintai yuh?" - Was your livestock in good shape? ... These are the traditional Mongolian phrases that me and Hannah are desperately trying to learn before tomorrow's Tsagaan Sar celebrations, since we're going to be guests at Ganbat's mother's. Tsagaan Sar is the traditional Mongolian new year, and is marked by the rising of the new moon two lunar months after the new moon following winter solstice. For Mongolians, white represents purity and happiness, and Tsagaan ("White") Sar ("Month") is the official beginning of Spring, a time when all negative influences are cleansed and everything starts anew. Given that the Mongol winter is particularly harsh, especially for the nomadic herders, it is no wonder the advent of Spring is so enthusiastically welcomed.

Today, the day before Tsagaan Sar, is called "Bituun", and, after sun down this evening, Mongolian families gather together for the beginning of the feast. Homemade Buuz and Bansh (both are a kind of steamed mutton dumpling) are consumed in large quantities (it's common for a family to make somewhere in the order of 3000 before Tsagaan Sar!), along with a whole sheep and copious amounts of vodka. In Mongolian Shamanism, Bituun is when the spirits travel back to the upper world, and hence cannot be called upon for assistance until after the rising of the new moon on Tsagaan Sar. When the spirits return with the new moon and the new year, the following prayer is recited:

"Khaan Khormasta / Spirits of the blue heavens! / Summer will come / Hunger goes away! / Day has come / Winter goes away! / The earth grows moist / Plants will abound! / Storms will be mild / Rains will be gentle / Khaan Khormasta / Spirits of the blue heavens!"

Khaan Khormasta is one of the chief spirits of the western tenger, the son of Etseg Malaan Tenger (the protector of livestock).

This English translation is taken from Riding Windhorses, a journey into the heart of Mongolian Shamanism, by the late Sarangerel, which is a book I thoroughly recommend to anyone interested in the history and practicalities of Mongolian Shamanism. Sarangeral died in early 2006. She was the international outreach member of the ASCWA and would have been an invaluable contact in Ulaanbaatar had she still been alive. Her brother, Chonobaatar, lives in San Francisco, and helped provide me with my initial contact with the ASCWA back in November.

Sun February 25th 2007
A lovely clear blue sky this afternoon, with no smog, which means we can see the Bogd Khan mountains from our balcony. This is a great distraction whilst we wait around for our landlord to come and fix another water leak in the bathroom, this time we can't use the washing machine, sink or the bath less we risk flooding the apartments underneath ours again. He's promised to come at 3pm, but on Mongolian time that could mean anything up to 7 or 8pm, so we're going to go out this afternoon and hope to return to a water drainage system!

Well, he arrived 45 minutes late, which is a definite improvement on past form! After explaining the situation we headed out for a walk around the city, going nowhere in particular, but getting some new photos for the site as well as relaxing after a busy week. I'll post the pictures up asap onto this site.

Wed February 28th 2007
I have written a short article for the Mongol Messenger, one of the two weekly English-language newspapers in Ulaanbaatar. The article is about the U-Bop Band and Mealody, with a view to hopefully attracting more people to the night. I'm very shortly off to collect a copy of the newspaper. An Australian lady is the English editor of the newspaper and has kept one by for me to add to the scrapbook, so to speak. Also, my article for The Wire magazine is out in the shops now I believe, which I'm naturally very excited about. Have also entered an article for Fanfare, the Birmingham Conservatoire alumni magazine, but I haven't heard whether or not they'll publish it as of yet.

The short Mongol Messenger article appears below:

Drummer's jazz dream comes true
At the north-western corner of Baga Toiruu in the Chingeltei District, opposite School Number 5, is a small, intimate restaurant called Mealody, the only venue where 100 per cent jazz is played for jazz lovers in Ulaanbaatar. It has an established jazz loving following of expats, tourists and Mongolians. The attraction - local band – U-Bop – has become an institution for audiences since Mealody’s proprietor, Baigalmaa instigated a weekend programme of live music in June 2006. Drummer N. Ganbat formed the U-Bop Trio with pianist and composer, Steve Tromans and bassist, Andrew Colwell, to provide regular Friday night gigs.

The band members were introduced to each other through the Mongolian Arts Council in 2006 and have been gigging ever since. It is the realization of a dream for N. Ganbat who studied jazz theory and practice at the world-famous Berklee College of Music in 2002 and set a goal to present jazz music similar to that in Boston, to Mongolian audiences.

U-Bop Band plays a range of jazz music: familiar jazz and bossa nova standards, original compositions by Steve Tromans, and new arrangements of popular Mongolian songs. The latter have a particular attraction for Mongolian audiences. The band usually finishes the evening gig with their rendition of “Halun Elgen Nutag”, a song transcribed onto the stone tablet on Peace Avenue, south of Sukhbaatar Square, and the first Mongolian song Tromans learnt on arrival in Ulaanbaatar. The band encourages jazz lovers and all music lovers to their Friday night gigs at Mealody starting at 10pm.