Date
Aug 14, Fri
Aug 15, Sat
Aug 17, Mon
Aug 18, Tue
Aug 20, Thu
Aug 21, Fri
Aug 22, Sat
Aug 26, Wed
Aug 27, Thu
Aug 28, Fri
Aug 29, Sat
Sep 01, Tue
...or contact: NLQ at NL4tet dot ca
Some sounds from Ulaanbaatar ‘08
Aconcert for guests of the
Canadian Embassy and
Her Excellency,Ambassdor Anna Biolik.
The audio balance isn’t great. It was a bit hectic
for a board tape. If you look at the front of the
stage in the next photo, you’ll see Robin’s little
Zoom H2 recorder, front and centre.
All things considered, not too shabby!
What? Yo Yo Ma?
Read this interesting interview with Altai-Hangai about life and music in Mongolia...
Recorded August 24/25, 2009 at The Audio Lounge -Aaron Young eng., Calgary
Mar 17, 2010 -- The long-awaited CD, with many of the tunes and songs performed on the 2009 tour is now completed
and we have produced a short run of 500 copies. These will become available through Plunge Records and CDBaby, with
downloadables available at iTunes in the next month or two.
1. Nature Boy 10:40
2. Builgan Sharlin Yavdal 5:26
3. Lazy Afternoon 9:36
4. Khuumii Magitaal 4:34
5. Moonglow 5:05
6. For Ha Ling 6:47
7. Horse Racing 3:48
8. Gobi’s Song 8:20

Northern Lights is a collective comprised of some of Calgary’s most popular freelance
musicians performing a mixture of traditional and contemporary jazz styles.
Northern Lights has evolved from a number of ensembles that have consistently worked
toward the development of spacious and interactive music which evokes
the expansiveness of the Canadian prairies. The recent CD, Afterthought by The
Keith Smith Trio is an expression of this approach.
Altai-Khangai performs traditional music from the steppes of Mongolia.
The morin khuur (horse head fiddle), khuchuur (like the chinese Erhu),
and khoomii (throat singing) evoke the grasslands, deserts, mountains,
horses and nomadic people of Mongolia, the land that knows no fences.
Ganbolt and Odontungalag are both instructors at the College of Music and Dance in
Ulaanbaatar, Monoglia. Ganbolt and Ganzorig play together in the duo/ensemble
called Altai Khangai (sometimes Altai Hangai). Odontungalag was drafted into
Altai-Khangai for this project.
The music selected for this collaboration introduces these separate traditions and moves
forward together, blending jazz into traditional Mongolian music and the sounds of
Mongolian music into jazz. In the collaborative pieces the musical traditions both
echo and compliment each other, and as Mongolian musicians add improvisation,
a new sound emerges that is a celebration of both traditions and a symbol of evolving
together in a partnership of co-creation.




A word of thanks...
Projects like this rarely occur by magic. There is almost always some person of great
faith and energy at the bottom of it, and often several. None of this would have
been possible without the vision and continuing dedicated efforts of Deb Rasmussen
of Calgary.
As well as being a fine vocalist, Deb has worked as a consulting agricultural economist
for Agriteam Canada for many years, working all over the world on foreign aid projects.
When in Mongolia, several years ago, she made a friendship with N.Ganbat, a pianist
and drummer in Ulaanbataar. Together, they established a jazz library there, and the
natural outgrowth of that led to the establishment of an NGO which now runs the
Giant Steppes of Jazz Festival held in Ulaanbataar.
Deb’s organizational skills are simply amazing. Our trips in Asia have been assisted
through the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, The Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
through DFAIT, the embassies in Beijing and Ulaanbataar, Agriteam Canada and many
volunteers in China and Mongolia. It was Deb who coordinated all of it, while
at the same time, she’s running a huge 5 year animal health project in several
provinces in China.
She’s usually lurking in the organizational shadows when not on stage, and thus,
deserves special mention and a special thank you from all involved in this project
as well as those who will enjoy the fruits of it.
A few pix of Deb and Ganbat:

