Dálava reimagines traditional Moravian folk songs through the lens of creative jazz and post-rock styles.

Dálava is a unique world music project that reflects and a body of Moravian folk songs of the 19th and early 20th century through the fun-house mirror of 21st century creative jazz and post-rock. The principal artists are American vocalist Julia Ulehla and guitarist Aram Bajakian (Lou Reed, John Zorn), joined by their elite band of Vancouver improvisers: Peggy Lee (cello), Tyson Naylor (piano, organ, accordion), Colin Cowan (bass) and Dylan van der Schyff (drums). The song texts are akin to fairy tales or compact, elliptical parables. Dálava gives each song its own sound world. Ulehla, inspired by her years as actress and singer at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards, animates these affecting melodies and archetypal storylines of love, death and the natural world through an improvisational yet ritual approach to performance. It's a kind of musical séance; indeed, there is a generations-long personal bond at work here, as these songs were collected in his home village by Ulehla's great grandfather, a botanist and ethnomusicologist who viewed folk songs as living organisms. So they prove to be in Dálava's bold, powerful and tender interpretations.

The CD package comes with a 36-page booklet including the Czech texts, English translations, and Ulehla's insightful commentary, as well as beautiful period photography of the Moravian countryside.

Ulehla and Bajakian have already created a minor sensation in the Czech Republic with their unconventional recreations of this well-loved repertoire, and are poised with this release to make a bigger splash on world music and creative jazz stages.

Track Listing

• Ej, na tej skale vysokej / Seven pairs of eagles
• Dyby ňa moja mamÄ›nka stará / Grass
• Dyž sem já Å¡el pres hory / The rocks began to crumble
• Co ste si mamičko za dům stavjat dali / Iron bars, iron lock
• VyletÄ›la holubička / The bloody wall
• Sem chaso spÄ›chajte / You used to look like a lion
• PÅ™ed naším je zahrádečka / Red violet
• Studená rosenka / Souling
• Na strážnickém rynku / War
• Vydala máti / Mother gave away her daughter
• Okolo Hradišča vodÄ›nka teče / He's bringing something for me
• FaÅ¡anku / Carnival
• Pásl Jano konÄ› / Sell us your shirt

Additional Details

Label: Songlines

Genre: World

Language: English

Run Time: 49 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 04/07/17

UPC: 774355240823