Project “Up Above Moscow”, program Rooftop Jazz

Moscow Department of Culture

Manege Association

“Up Above Moscow” is a cycle of music nights at a venue offering unique views of Moscow. In warm seasons, the performances are staged on the rooftop of the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman pavilion, at the footing of the iconic 24-meter sculpture, a world-renowned symbol of the Soviet Union. At all other times and depending on the weather conditions, the concerts are held on the fourth floor with admission to the rooftop during the break.

Music nights at the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman are conducted in two formats, with ‘Rooftop Jazz’ performances on Wednesdays and ‘Electronic Thursdays’ given to electronic musicians and sound designers. The organizer of the project is the Manege Association.

Leo Records festival brings folk jazz project to the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman center

20.00 – arrival of guests
20.15 – performance

A highlight of the fourth Leo Records festival in Russia will be a performance at the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman center by a jazz quintet featuring Anastasia Masloboeva, the ethno singer from Siberia, and Spanish guitarist ?ngel Ontalva. The festival night will be opened by legendary Leo Feigin, the founder of Leo Records label and same-name festival of modern jazz and new improvisational music, which is really big on the jazz scene. Feigin is known to many jazz lovers in Russia by the name Alexei Leonidov after his 25 years as a presenter in a jazz show with the BBC Russian service. The organizer of the festival, Aleksei Kruglov, is one of the bright names of the new wave of improvisational music.

The international lineup with diverse geographical backgrounds spanning from the North of Russia to Tbilisi and Madrid will present a musical program based on the Siberian folklore framed in the improvisational style of modern jazz. Alyona Ageeva (Nizhni Novgorod) will punctuate the soft and spontaneous musical improvisation by unusual plastic dance.

Singer Anastasia Masloboeva from East Siberia performs original pieces, blending smoothly Russian folk with postmodernist trends, elements of Celtic and oriental music. While reviewers have often praised her “angel-like” voice and the listeners compare their experience to meditation, she really impresses the public by the deep and powerful manner of folk singing. Masloboeva has traditionally used in her performances the cimbalom, a string instrument popular in East European and Asian countries that produces sound by strikes of wooden sticks against strings.

In Spain, ?ngel Ontalva is a quite remarkable figure of the improvisational music scene and art in general (he is an artist as well). Interestingly, the compositions by Ontalva express not only his familiar Mediterranean and North African content, but also feature deep-root Slavic motives. The free-flowing and at times uncompromisingly sharp sound of Ontalva’s music appeals to both sophisticated specialists and laymen. Projects featuring ?ngel Ontalva represent those rare occasions of humane avant-garde that won’t turn off neophytes but would rather inspire interest and aspiration to discover the nature of his music.

Irakli Sanadiradze whom you might already know by the project “Irakli Jazz” will punctuate the performance as a percussionist. The lineup will be joined by famous Moscow-based pianist, member of “Krugly band”, Renat Gataulin. The double bass accompaniment will be by Denis Shushkov from Arkhangelsk.

Lineup:

Anastasia Masloboeva (Irkutsk) — folk vocals, cimbalom

?ngel Ontalva (Spain) — guitar

Renat Gataulin (Moscow) — grand piano

Denis Shushkov (Arkhangelsk) — double bass

Irakli Sanadiradze (Georgia) — drums, percussion.

Guest performer of the project — Alyona Ageeva (Nizhni Novgorod) — plastic dance.

Tickets are available at the box offices of the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman and online at the website of Manege and Voxxter.ru. The ticket price of 300 rubles also includes admission to exhibitions on the day of the performance.

Media accreditation:
Manege MEA | +7 (495) 645 92 76 | pr.manege@gmail.com
Elena Karneeva | e.karneeva@moscowmanege.ru, +7 (926) 576-40-53

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