WOMAD

Ashkhabad

From Turkmenistan

It may not be their intention, but personal research has shown that Ashkhabad are exactly what you want to hear at 2.29am when you've got good and smashed on a bottle of robust red wine. This is dancing in the kitchen music - the desire to clap those hands in the air and swish the nearest available skirt is overwhelming!Hailing from Turkmenistan, the newly independent republic west of the Caspian Sea, they play a folk music redolent with the warmth of a gypsy camp fire. It is the music of weddings and, drenched in sentiment, it conveys both the wonder and the sadness of life. The power of the music was recognised by the former Soviet authorities and they tried to ban it. Atabi, the singer, was prevented from performing and, at the height of the campaign, was locked in a mental institution for six weeks.Their release on Real World Records - 'City of Love' - is powerful propaganda for traditional life. It draws you back with longing towards the days when people gathered in the village square to play the music that evolved from their interaction with the land. It is a combination of Turkmenistan folk, with elements from Persia, Azerbeidjan and Turkey. They also have external influences which you can try and spot coming through. Atabi has a soft spot for heavy metal, claiming that "hard rock singers scream just like our Turkmenistan singers!"; the clarinet and sax player is into Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Ravel, Charlie Parker and Michael Brecker.