East Meets East

LPA

1. Ajde Jano
2. Lullaby for Kamila
3. T 4.2
4. Eden

LPB

1. Dafino
2. Jovano Jovanke
3. Ederlezi
4. Kazimierz

LPC

1. One Voice
2. Tribute to Maria Tanase
3. Time 4 Time

LPD

1. Vino
2. Lost in Time
3. Kukush

In a world where virtually every artist deliberately conforms to a single style to appease music companies, critics, even record-shop filing systems, Nigel Kennedy is bewildering. His passion for music is so real, so deep, that it conflicts sharply with any superficial restrictions. To know him is to understand that in his mind, playing a gentle harmonic piece on a priceless antique violin and then swapping to a modern electric instrument and shaking the dust from the rafters is perfectly natural — that is, if the music or his mood speaks in those tones. He truly doesn’t view this as rebellious but as utterly natural.

His respect for great musical traditions was forged from childhood studies as Yehudi Menuhins first scholar at the great violinist’s school in Stoke d’Abernon; his attraction to infectious world-music rhythms and guitar-like electric-fiddle sounds was born, as for the rest of us, from exposure to the excitement of contemporary music. Nigel’s appetite for exploration belongs to earlier great artistic traditions; those painters, for instance, at the turn of the 19th century who drifted from movement to movement, feeding on the excitement of differing approaches to a subject. Here, with this extraordinary record, Nigel joins forces with the gifted Polish band Kroke to explore the musical roots of Eastern Europe while still injecting his own unique visions. The raw energy and haunting melodies of traditional tunes fascinated old masters such as Vivaldi and Bach, and they fascinate Nigel Kennedy. These aren’t just a string of tunes to fill up another CD; they are individual excitements felt by Nigel and shared with you. Vibrant dance material driven almost to a frenzy, ‘One Voice’ is a simple melody played in turn on three instruments by three musicians of three faiths, ‘Lost in Time’ a haunting solo piece describing winter living conditions in a quarter of Poland. Again very real, very personal: Nigel has a home in Poland. This spectacular record is a pure musical landscape capturing all the sunlight and shadows of his life.