Without Kuryokhin - A CD in tribute to Sergey Kuryokhin by Keshavan Maslak and Otomo Yoshihide

SERGEY KURYOKHIN DIED IN JULY 1996. HE MET OTOMO IN JAPAN A YEAR BEFORE. THEY LIKED EACH OTHER. THEY WANTED TO PLAY TOGETHER. FALL OF 1996 THEY PLANNED JAPANESE TOUR WITH AN OLD PARTNER OF SERGEY AMERICAN REED PLAYER KESHAVAN MASLAK. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN - SERGEY DIED. BUT OTOMO AND KESHAVAN CAME TO RUSSIA TO PLAY TWO MEMORIAL CONCERTS IN MOSCOW AND PETERSBURG. THAT WAS OTOMO'S WAY TO RUSSIA THAT WAS A REASON. FRIENDSHIP AND MUSICIAN SHIP BROUGHT HIM TO RUSSIA.

Without Kuryokhin






VERY SHORT RUSSIAN TOUR HAD A TITLE "WITHOUT KURYOKHIN" AND THIS TOUR TOOK PLACE IN THE FRAME OF RUSSIAN MEMORIAL FESTIVAL "SERGEY PASSION". LONG ARMS AGENCY, IMA PRESS PUBLISHERS AND SERGEY KURYOKHIN FOUNDATION ORGANIZED WHOLE AUTUMN AND WINTER LONG FESTIVAL. MANY NEW MUSIC ARTISTS TOOK PART IN THIS FESTIVAL, SUCH AS VYACHESLAV GANELIN, VLADIMIR TARASOV, VLADIMIR CHEKASIN, VYACHESLAV GUYVORONSKY, VLADIMIR VOLKOV, ARKADY SHILKLOPER, SERGEI LETOV, VLADIMIR REZITSKY, DIETER GLAWISCHNIG, NICK SUDNIK, ALEX TEGIN, ALEX AIGI AND HIS «4:33» GROUP, DANCERS, POETS, MASLAK AND OTOMO. KESHAVAN AND OTOMO PLAYED DUO CONCERT IN MOSCOW IN CENTRAL HOUSE OF ARTIST ON NOVEMBER 5TH AND SECOND SET (GUYVORONSKY - VOLKOV DUO PLAYED IN THE FIRST SET) OF THE CONCERT IN PETERSBURG IN HOUSE OF CINEMA ON NOVEMBER 6TH.







Without Kuryokhin

Live 1
Live 1, 3:31

THERE WERE QUITE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN MOSCOW CONCERT (AROUND 400), CONCERT HALL WAS ALMOST FULL. IN PETERSBURG THERE WERE NOT SO MANY PEOPLE - MAYBE 200, AND THE AUDIENCE WAS A BIT «COLDER». AND CHOSE WERE REALLY VERY SPECIAL EVENTS. RUSSIAN AUDIENCE ABSOLUTELY DID NOT GET USED TO THIS KIND OF MUSIC LIKE OTOMO'S MIXES. THERE ARE MANY NIGHT CLUBS WITH ORDINARY DJ'S WITH TECHNO AND HOUSE MIXES, BUT NO ONE OF THEM PLAYS SUCH NOISE POSTMODERN STUFF. OF COURSE SEVERAL RUSSIAN MARGINAL MUSICIANS PLAY EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC WITH TAPE LOOPS AND TURNTABLES, BUT THEY ARE ALMOST UNKNOWN. SO WE CAN SAY THAT RUSSIAN AUDIENCE IS NOT USED TO LISTEN TO THIS MUSIC, BUT WE CAN'T SAY THAT THIS AUDIENCE IS NOT READY FOR IT. IT IS REALLY ACTUAL STUFF AND RUSSIAN AUDIENCE IS VERY OPEN AND GRATEFUL (AND STILL NOT DEAD), HAS A GOOD EARS AND AN OPEN MIND. BECAUSE OF THAT KESHAVAN AND OTOMO HAD VERY VERY WARM AND HEARTY RECEPTION WITH A LONG APPLAUDS AND ENCORE.


MUSICIANS SUCCEEDED TO CREATE ON THE STAGE THE ATMOSPHERE OF KURYOKHIN'S POP-MECHANIC SHOW. THAT WAS KIND OF CHAMBER DUO POP-MECHANIC WITH A LOT OF FUNNY ACTION AND VERY MIXED MUSIC. SOMETIMES KESHAVAN PLAYED A ROLE OF A ROCK STAR AND SHOUTED TO THE MICROPHONE «FUCK» AND «SHIT», ALSO HE MADE AN GYMNASTIC EXERCISES WITH HIS GUITAR AND BIT IT WITH A TOWEL. OTOMO THREW AWAY MANY OF HIS VINYL RECORDS ALL OVER THE STAGE, PUT CLOTHES FROM SUITCASE INTO THE PIANO, SMASHED UP HIS CHAIR AND SO ON. AND MUSIC! IT WAS TERRIFIC.


"WITHOUT KURYOKHIN" - WAS A TITLE OF THESE CONCERTS. BUT THAT WAS A WRONG TITLE. ACTUALLY, MUCH BETTER TITLE FOR IT COULD BE - "WITH KURYOKHIN". BECAUSE HE WAS ON THE STAGE! IT SEEMS THAT HIS SPIRIT CONTROLLED EVERYTHING WHAT HAPPENED DURING THESE CONCERTS. AND THAT WAS A REASON WHY ONE OF THE REVIEWS IN MOSCOW PAPERS AFTER THE CONCERT HAD A TITLE "MESSAGE TO SERGEY KURYOKHIN FROM SERGEY KURYOKHIN".

SERGEY KURYOKHIN WAS GREAT.
HE WAS MY FRIEND.
HE DIED.
WHILE SERGEY AND I WERE TOURING JAPAN IN THE FALL OF 1995 WE MET OTOMO YOSHIHIDE IN TOKYO. IT WAS DECIDED AT THAT TIME THAT THE THREE OF US SHOULD PERFORM TOGETHER. BUT FATE CHANGED OUR PLANS FOREVER WITH SERGEY'S SUDDEN DEATH. AFTERWARDS, I TALKED TO OTOMO ABOUT CONTINUING OUR PLANS OF PERFORMING TOGETHER, THIS TIME IN A MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO OUR FRIEND.

WITH THE HELP OF NASTYA KURYOKHIN AND NIKOLAY DMITRIEV CONCERTS WERE ARRANGED IN NOVEMBER OF 1996 IN THE CITIES OF MOSCOW AND ST. PETERSBURG. SINCE RUSSIA CONTINUES TO STRUGGLE WITH ITS PERIOD OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION, FUNDING WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME AND OTOMO TO TRAVEL THERE. I DECIDED, TOGETHER THE KIND UNDERSTANDING OF MY WIFE JUNKO, TO FINANCE THE TOUR FOR OTOMO AND ME. THE CONCERT OF OTOMO AND MYSELF IN MOSCOW WAS A SOUL SEARCHING EXPLOSION OF EMOTION AND TENDERNESS. (WE EVEN HAD A PIANO SET-UP ON STAGE WITH A SPOTLIGHT ON THE KEYS). THIS PERFORMANCE WAS A GREAT MEMORY FOR ME. OTOMO'S CREATIVE MIXES TRANSFORM THE LIVE EVENT INTO RECORDED ART. ENJOY AND THANK YOU


THANK YOU.

KENNY MILLIONS (A.K.A. KESHAVAN MASLAK) / FLORIDA, USA, JUNE 1998

Live 1
Live 1, 3:31

WITHOUT KURYOKHIN
Kenny Millions & Otomo Yoshihide
Kenny Millions, saxophone, clarinet, miniature guitar, voice
Otomo Yoshihide, turntables, electronics, samplers
all compositions by Kenny Millions (BMI) / Otomo Yoshihide
Recorded at Central House of Artists on November 5th, 1996
Edit and Re-Mix by Otomo Yoshihide at A-102 Studio in Tokyo
on February - March 1998
CD-master: Sergey Zagni, April 1998, Moscow
Design: Igor Gurovich
Producer Nick Dmitriev

CDKA 99021
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