WOMAD

Yulduz Usmanova

From Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is the second largest of the five central Asian states that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. Bordered on its southern tip by Afghanistan, Uzbeki music makes liberal use of the tabla and tambura (a stringed instrument common across Central Asia), but many of its tunes and tempos have a Turkish feel to them. Throughout the nineties, after the crumbling of the Soviet Union, Uzbeki musicians have also incorporated elements of rock and European pop, particularly through the use of keyboards. Yulduz Usmanova and her band have become huge stars in central Asia through their deft blend of these styles. Yulduz, now 32, a former silk factory worker who graduated in Oriental Music Studies at the Tashkent conservatorium, began her rise to stardom at the 1991 Voice of Asia festival in Alma-Ata, the capital of Kazakhstan. This annual event brings together artists from all five former Soviet republics for a week-long contest that draws crowds of up to 30,000 each night. Yulduz's set - contemporary, but with its roots in tradition - catapulted her into the million-selling bracket across central Asia. But, like Turkmenistan's finest band (and WOMAD regulars), Ashkhabad, she will still perform, if asked, at Uzbeki weddings. Yulduz's six-piece band are adept at embellishing traditional material with crowd-pleasing flourishes, but it's always her voice that holds the attention. Recent albums, such as last year's 'Binafscha', highlight her ability to switch from ballads to harder-edged songs (Uzbekis like their music meaty rather than lean). Her material has developed to take in modern themes from new writers, where previously she had relied on classical texts - the Bible and the Koran - for inspiration. This is the sound of central Asia in the nineties - outward-looking, passionate and unashamedly commercial.