Each week Nat Geo Music scours the far reaches of the internet to bring you the coolest new videos from around the globe, and this week we turn to Uzbekistan, where our friend and HuffPo Vlogger Michal Shapiro recently covered the Sharq Taronalari cultural festival, with her trusty camera in tow. There she captured some amazing footage for us, as she describes below:
I just got back from Uzbekistan, covering the Sharq Taronalari festival in Samarkand… and boy are my ears (and eyes) tired! As one of the judges at the festival remarked “It’s a bit of Heaven and Holly wood?no, make that Bollywood.” But amidst the incredible swirl of performances, which ranged from great to kitsch, Jivan Gasparyan Jr’s stood out as an island of artistry and cool sanity. The lights illuminating the immense Registan, where the festival takes place went to a simple ultramarine, and for a space of time we were all focused on some intensely soulful music.
Gasparyan Jr. had a lot on his shoulders. His grandfather, duduk player Jivan Gasparyan Sr. is one of world music’s best known musicians, having collaborated with the likes of Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Brian May, Lionel Richie, Michael Brook, Hans Zimmer and Andreas Vollenweider. He’s quite literally the People’s Artist of Armenia, having been awarded the title in 1979. But this time, he was in the audience, watching his grandson taking the stage in a pivotal performance as his first competition so geographically near to his roots. The performance earned Jr. the UNESCO prize, and a grandfather’s joy.
I was toting my trusty camcorder, and prior to the awards announcements, had the good fortune to arrange this spontaneous shoot with Gasparyan jr in a room just adjacent to the hotel kitchen. My thanks to his two stalwart accompanists, and to my various friends who guarded the doors and kept waiters and dishwashers at bay.
Check it out!
Grandfather, Grandson, Grand masters from Michal Shapiro on Vimeo.
Source: National Geographic
