Once Upon A Time

Description

These Cossacks are dancing wild pogo! With traditional folk music, the wild gang Otava Yo from St Petersburg has absolutely nothing to do! Instead of strumming quietly on the guitar, they prefer to tear up with spirited dance music!
Otava Yo consists of six professional folk musicians who have been playing together for more than ten years. Originally, the cheerful band was just a side project. The "original crew" around Alexey Belkin, Alexey Skosirev, and Dmitry Shikardin were enchanted by Russian folk tunes - not the well-known "oldies", but the sounds to which their parents danced in their youth. The best "Soviet hits," so to speak. Live, the sextet comes with irresistible force, without their fur hats even budging an inch. Violinist Julia Usova adds female charm with the obligatory white flower in her hair.
With "Once about time," the Langenzenner label CPL Music releases their first album in Germany. The album was already released in Russia in 2009. With lots of wit and rustic charm, Otava Yo celebrates the Russian way of life, love, and the joys of excessive drinking. And fortunately, they don't take themselves too seriously. The exhilarating songs are about rural romances, heroic sailors, pancakes, street sweepers, and pilgrimages. Haven't heard anything like it before! Of course, instruments like the ancient Russian string instrument Gusli or the traditional wind instrument Zhalaika are rather unknown here. And they've successfully employed the Galician bagpipe for their own purposes!
In their hometown of St. Petersburg, Otava Yo are local heroes and perform over 80 concerts per year. But the "modern minstrel troupe" has also left a mighty impression at numerous folk festivals worldwide, including in Mexico, Portugal, France, India, the United States, Poland, Finland, and Norway.
The international press is thrilled by the infectious lust for life of the Petersburgers:
"Otava Yo can conquer a large concert hall with their Slavic temperament: They are a wonderful example of what happens when the stereotypical Russian Ivan suddenly discovers the groove." (Kiviberg, Fijandi Folk Festival)
By the way, Otava Yo are inherently curious about the folk tradition in the countries they visit during their tours. "Every time we come to a new country, we prepare a folk song from the region to play it later for the audience there," says band leader Alexey Belkin. So, we can expect surprises!
Tracklisting