Anatholi Bulkin In Conversation

[00:00:12] Speaker A: He's been described as a wizard of brilliant artistry, an exciting new contemporary guitarist with a fountain of ideas. His devotion and talent have paid off, earning him a place on the international jazz circuit. These are just some of the accolades heard around the world describing this up and coming purveyor of the springs. Please welcome Anatoly Oli Balkan in conversation. Welcome to the show. [00:00:46] Speaker B: Hi Randy, and thanks a million for having me on the show. [00:00:51] Speaker A: Where were you born? [00:00:53] Speaker B: I was born in Karlmar in the southeastern part of Sweden, just outside of Dniebro, where we lived at the time. We moved round quite a bit of that though, and I'm raised in a small town about one hour drive to the west from Stockholm called Sirhammar. The first Swedish car was built in Surahama. [00:01:14] Speaker A: Did you come from a musical background? [00:01:17] Speaker B: My parents did not play any musical instruments at all. My father tried once when I was a child to pick up the guitar, but after a couple of months playing the same song, the same mistake over and over again, my mother got crazy with him. So I did not come from any musical background at all. [00:01:34] Speaker A: Any early musical influences? [00:01:37] Speaker B: One of my earliest musical influences were when an older brother to one of my best friends played Dive and Duck on his acoustic guitar. That rang a bell in me and I remember getting goose flesh. [00:01:50] Speaker A: I'm curious as to the level of education that you received while you were growing up in Sweden. More to the point, what was the quality of music education in the schools in Sweden? [00:02:07] Speaker B: Sweden has for a long time had a very good music program in the schools, especially when it comes to Musikskolen. That's the music school and it's for children now called Kultur Skola, the culture school in English. Almost every child who wanted to play an instrument could go there and learn an instrument. And the fee was also very, very low. I see in my hometown, Surahama, they have taken that away for a couple of years ago and actually all over Sweden, and this is not good at all. The tradition that every child should have the possibility to learn an instrument was very good. I think nowadays when the Swedish government has taken that option away, especially in the small villages like Surahama where I grew up, it will, I think in the long run degrade the flow of great music coming from Sweden. Sweden is the third country now in the world today when it comes to export of music. With groups as Abba, Roxette, etc. From the pop field and John Johansson, Pallidonilsson, Buboustianson and many, many more from the Jazz field. [00:03:16] Speaker A: When you were growing up, did you have a tendency to hang around people who were musically inclined, or were you friends from a varied background? [00:03:26] Speaker B: At one point, I was totally fanatic with the drum thing when it comes to rhythm. I still am. I remember that I had an older friend playing the drums. I hanged a lot with him. The group he was playing with had a huge rehearsing room with a kitchen and everything. We hang there almost every day and he was taking care of his drums, polishing them, practicing. We also did a lot of different things there together and had lots of fun. [00:03:51] Speaker A: For the finest in community radio, this is CHUOFM 89.1 on your FM dial. And now back to more of my conversation with Anatoly Bulkin. As you were developing an appreciation of music, did you happen to join any bands along the way? [00:04:13] Speaker B: The first group I played with has a neat story. I had just bought my first drum set from money I earned to myself, and I was practicing like crazy. One day I took the moped and accidentally went by a house where I heard some music coming from. It sounded like a band rehearsing two guitars, vocals and bass, but no drums. I really liked what I heard, so I put up a note on the door later saying, if you need a drummer, please call me. They called the next day. The music was very special. They wrote all the songs themselves. But the most interesting thing were that all the songs were not the traditional 4, 4, 3, 4 measure thing. Every tune had all very intricate rhythm structures like 7, 8, 9, 8 or 11, 8, etc. Or combinations of additive rhythms within the same song. I just played the music. I didn't realize then that it was supposed to be very tricky. [00:05:09] Speaker A: Now, when you're a child growing up, part of the process is discovering and trying out different things. Now, one of the things that most children grow up with is discovering various musical instruments. Now, what was the first musical instrument that you were attracted to as a child? [00:05:28] Speaker B: The guitar was definitely the first musical instrument I was attracted to as a child. I remember that my mother applying to get enrolled in the music school in Surahamar and that she asked me that what instrument I wanted to play. I said guitar. When we got the answer from the children's music school, they wrote that children of my age has too small hands to learn the guitar. That's something. So I began with the piano instead, and later on I added drums and also guitars. So at one point I actually played the piano, the drums and the guitar. [00:06:04] Speaker A: Now, there's a lot of music out there. To listen to. What music did you listen to growing up? [00:06:10] Speaker B: My father had a huge collection of James Last records. I just remembered now, when you were asking about it, I never liked it, though. There was one record he had that I really liked, though. It was an album with Creedon's Clearwater Revival called Willie and the Poor Boys. Before I started out playing, I listened to sweet kiss, 10C and more later. I listened a lot to blues like BB King, Magic Slim, Johnny Winters, Jimi Hendrix. I also listened to them Rolling Stones and the Beatles. When I started out playing the drums in the big band at the music school, the band leader Kai Yu Wanson, who also is a great jazz trumpeter, often invited me to his home. He came up from the basement carrying this big laundry basket full of jazz singles, and we listened all night long to Clifford Brown, Cannibal, Adelaide Myers Davis and just about every great musician there is in the jazz field. When I started to study music, there were also the more modern school of jazz and fusion, of course, that I listened to, and also a lot of classical music. [00:07:13] Speaker A: Did you watch much TV or listen to the radio when you were growing up? [00:07:17] Speaker B: We watched TV quite a lot. Radio was also there, but not that much. And on TV there were a lot of music. About 10 years ago, I chose not to watch TV anymore, especially not the news. And I also don't read any daily newspapers at all. I chose not to because of all the mishaps and misery the news media focus in on. I chose not to watch because I felt that I didn't want to be programmed with negativity. For instance, I remember watching the children and their misery in Brazil. And I thought that if I can't do much about it, I don't want to see that every day. Someday maybe I can do a difference through music. I don't know. I sure hope so. In one way I already have. I went to Gambia with the Music Conservatory of Malmo to record traditional music and musicians there. Many of those musicians and their children. I think that I in some way helped, I hope one of the musicians that I recorded then, Alaje Mbaye, a choral player, now has a music school for children in Gambia. The recordings I made later became a cd. When watching TV as a child, I remember one Swedish guitarist playing on TV a lot. When he played, he always had his tongue rotating in his mouth. Kind of looked peculiar pushing out his cheek. His name is Janik Haffer. He played with ABBA and almost every name in Sweden at the time. He's a great musician. I actually met him a Couple of months ago, for the first time, after a lecturing he had about his career, we talked a bit and I gave him a cd. And he's a very nice person. [00:08:56] Speaker A: Also, we're going to listen to something Anatoly from Jan Huffer's album that he made for CBS Records. In fact, this was his debut recording for cbs. It was entitled Catharsis. And I'm going to play for you a track that was certainly one of my favorites. It's entitled Dimba Jewlor it. Now, there are some people in life that know their vocation early on and some later on in life. Now, when. When did you know at. At what point in time in your life did you know that you wanted to become a serious musician? [00:14:40] Speaker B: I can't remember exactly at what point I knew that I wanted to become a serious musician. What I do remember, though, is that I wrote a contract with God very early on, stating that I would dedicate my life to music. [00:14:56] Speaker A: What jazz guitarist influenced your style of playing? [00:15:00] Speaker B: Jazz guitarists that influenced my style of playing is a little bit hard for me to say because I'm not listening to guitarists that way. I don't want to give the impression that I have not been influenced. Of course I have. Otherwise you have to put yourself in a cave alone for your complete life and you would still be influenced. I think because of the collective consciousness. What I'm trying to say is that I'm searching to find my own voice and have been for a long time now. Jazz guitarists that I've listened to is almost everyone that has an album out. Especially, of course, the big names such as Pat Metheny and John Schofield. Both of them are great musicians and composers as well. I haven't transcribed any of them at all. Not a note, actually. But people tend to compare me with both. I think it's all in the fingers and heart. Also, maybe I'm in the same vein, so to speak. Other jazz guitarists worth mentioning is Jim hall, the Great West Montgomery, John McLaughlin, Larry Coriel, Bill Frissell, Pat Martino, Hank Garland, Jimmy Bruno, Barney Kessel, Jimmy Rainey, Scott Henderson, Mike Stern. The list goes on and on. There are so many really great jazz guitar players out there. Also not to be forgotten is all the great players that are not that known. For instance, in Sweden, there's a guy called Rolf Nilsson. He lives here in Malmo, where I live. Rolf is one of these guys that could be one of the greats if just some bigger labels would have found him. I try to recommend for students to not Listen too much just to guitarists because music is so much more. If you're into improvisational music, it's not even just jazz music. You also got the immense tradition of Indian classical music to draw inspiration from and a lot of other sources, possible inspiration and influence such as Joseph Schellinger and his writings about music. But that's a chapter of itself now. [00:16:59] Speaker A: What was it about their playing that you enjoyed so much? [00:17:02] Speaker B: Jim hall has a lot of really great ideas that he presents and then transforms into sheer beauty. McLaughlin is the speed boy. He seems to be enjoying the fast ride of things and also helped out a lot to bring Indian classical musicians to the western origins. Pat Martino plays a lot the whole time and has lots of great bebop lines in his playing. Mike Stern also plays a lot the whole time like Pat Martino, but uses a more modern language and also has a rockers output which is unusual for jazz guitarist. Mike also writes excellent tunes. He has taken the Monk Thelonious Monk idea further. The thing with twisting the melody rhythm wise. Mike Stern has also been great in getting a new audience to jazz since some of the rockers also comes to his concerts. [00:17:51] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:17:53] Speaker B: But Pat Metheny is the master. He has it all. His timing is really fun to listen to also. It's actually for me the most interesting part of his playing and composing. The timing, phrasing and the rhythm. Because it's like the perfect rubber band. He pulls and releases at the most perfect spots just to give the music what it needs. [00:18:14] Speaker A: Were there other musicians that had an influence on you musically? [00:18:18] Speaker B: Pat Metheny were and still is a big influence on me musically. Charlie Panakos is also a big influence. I've never heard him play though, which is pretty funny now when I think about it. But I studied for him for three years and he's a great teacher when it comes to improvisation. Charlie is like a dictionary when it comes to the different styles and methods to improvisation. I can strongly recommend him to anyone. His main instrument is piano. Tommy Eggers, a Swedish percussionist has also had a big impact on me musically. I took percussion and rhythm lessons for him. He introduced me to the Schillinger. To Schillinger and to lots of other things when it comes to rhythms. He's a great guy and musician. There's also a sitar player named Sajad Ulalam that I played with for years and years. We have had lots of discussions about music and life and the deeper view of it. This has been and is very inspiring for me also. The same goes for A tabla player I play with called Subhash. We also talk a lot about the other aspects of music, the impact it has on people and more, not just what notes to play. The Indian classical musicians tend to have a deeper view of music in general that I find fascinating. [00:19:36] Speaker A: Did you ever listen to older recordings to learn maybe a new technique or idea that you might want to incorporate into what you're doing now? [00:19:44] Speaker B: I used to listen to older recordings to learn a new technique or idea that I wanted to incorporate into whatever I was into at the time. Nowadays I try to find new ways, mostly from other sources and methods. One I got from David Liebman, who's a great human being and musician. He told me to listen more to myself and my own playing and draw inspiration from that. Another is Joseph Schillinger and his thoughts about music and composition. Schillinger was of Russian origin. Like me, he later moved to the States and lived there until his death. Through the methods of Schillinger you can draw a vast amount of inspiration for improvisation, composition and more. [00:20:26] Speaker A: Do you seek out situations that might be musically challenging to you? I know that as a jazz musician this can be a lifelong quest. [00:20:34] Speaker B: Yes, I love to look for situations that can be musically challenging for me. One thing I've been doing for quite a while now is to play with Indian musicians. I've played for years and years with this sitar player named Sajid Ulalam that I mentioned before. He must be one of the best sitar players around nowadays. He lives in Spain. Just recently came back from a one month tour with a group called Cosmic Sound in Reunion island and Mauritius. It's a tabla player called Subhash Dhonuchand and his band. He also writes all the music. It's a lot of fun and sure is challenging. Next thing that is challenging for me is to play with my favorite musicians and that is in the process. Already two of my all time favorite bass players and drummers have both told me they really want to play together with me. They are Mark Keegan on bass and Danny Gottlieb on drums. Now it's all up to the higher forces. [00:21:40] Speaker A: Any musicians who are no longer with us who you would have liked to play with or even record with? [00:21:47] Speaker B: I would have loved to play and record with Miles Davis. He was a genius in many ways, I think. Not that exaggeratingly humble though. But his charisma and vision for music magic was extraordinary. He also had that sixth sense of putting the right musicians together that would lead to three plus three Nine or more simply magic. I'm very curious what would have happened if he had been the president of America. [00:22:15] Speaker A: One of Sweden's national treasures is musician Lars Gulen. He's well known in Sweden as not only being a musician, but also an arranger and composer. Do you have any thoughts on this musical giant? [00:22:28] Speaker B: Yes. I also think that Lars Gulen is one of Sweden's biggest contributors to jazz. I remember playing his composition Daniel's Dream, which is great. There's also other Swedish musicians worth mentioning. There was one tenor player named Boria Fredriksson. He was active at the same time Coltrane began. There are some records you can find with Boria and he was really ahead of his time. Unfortunately he killed himself due to not getting noticed. I've heard other Swedish guys that I think has made a big contribution to jazz internationally is Pallid Doanesson, the bass player and the piano players Bubu Steensson and Jon Johansson. There is also a new kid on the block called Espionage Svensson, yet another piano player. He's already making big waves. [00:23:16] Speaker A: You're listening to in transition on CK2OFM. Coming to you live from the Media Skywalk at the University of Ottawa, serving the Ottawa hall area and surroundings at 89.1 on your FM dial. And now back to in conversation with Anatoly Bulkan. Now, if you had to make a recording with another guitarist, who would it be? [00:23:41] Speaker B: If I had to make a recording with another guitarist and I could choose, I would choose Mr. Pat Matheny. Pat Matheny would be a dream come true to record and play with. And also a challenge of huge measure. Just to meet him and discuss music would be a blast. Then to play and record with him would be like a thing from another planet. But Mathini is the musician now living on Earth that for me has it all together, and I mean any category of instrument and composition as well. He gives me the impression of being a big soul. [00:24:15] Speaker A: If you had to form a dream band, who would it consist of and what pieces would you choose if you were to make a recording? [00:24:22] Speaker B: If I had to form a dream band, it would depend on the music. It would definitely be my own material. If it were the Afro Cuban funky clave thing that I'm into. The dream band would consist of El Negro, that's Horacio El Negro Hernandez or Robbie Amin on drums, Herbie Hancock on piano and keyboards, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, Randy Brecker on trumpet, Giovanni Hidalgo or Richie Flores on congas on percussion, Milton Cardona on Bata vocals, Bongos and percussion. Bobby Sanabria on timbales on percussion, Lincoln Goins on electric bass and Harvey Swartz. He's changed his name just recently to Harvey S. On the songs that need double bass. If it were the Anatoly Bulking Group and the more Brazilian and cinematic view of music that I write and arrange, the Dream Band would consist of Jack DeJeanette on drum set, Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, Aerto Moreira on percussion, Lyle Mace on piano and synthesizers, Dave Holland on double bass and Matt Garrison on electric when needed. If it's the recording we're talking about Pedro Asnad on voice and additional instruments and Mark Ledford on voice and flugelhorn. Maybe the music would need another synthesizer player. I don't know, but maybe Jill Goldstein on synthesizer. If it were the Anatoly Bulking Trio and my music especially written for the trio format. The Dream Band would consist of Danny Gottlieb on drums and Mark Egan on bass. And that is already in the process. [00:26:08] Speaker A: What instruments do you use when you're playing? [00:26:11] Speaker B: I play on four guitars. It's an ES175 from 1959, an ES3 that's a Gibson and an E IS335 Gibson copy. All handmade by someone in Sweden sometime in the 80s. The neck and the body are hand builts, but the mics and the hardware is all Gibson. The third guitar is a Roland guitar synthesizer, also from 1980. It's all analog though, and no MIDI. The guitar number four is an acoustic guitar. I usually get endorsement with different manufacturers builders on this one when I tour either acoustic steel string or acoustic nylon. I haven't decided what brand to buy yet. That's why when we went to Egypt to play, I got Mikael Sandy an acoustic steel string with me. That was awesome. He's a guitar craftsman and he's living In Helsingborg, a 40 minute ride from Malmo, where I'm staying. [00:27:15] Speaker A: How long have you known the members of your trio? [00:27:18] Speaker B: The members of the trio I've known for quite a while. Jonas Ringel, the bass player and me met when we were studying music together at a school called friedhelms Volkrigskula about 14 years ago. Wow. I just realized that time flies. [00:27:36] Speaker A: It sure does. [00:27:38] Speaker B: I remember the two of us playing Donna Lee and all those really fast bebop tunes. Just with guitar and bass and having lots of fun. And there's Hens Uzolsson. Initiation is a great drummer. We just met before the Egypt tour in 98. He had been living in New York for five years and just got back to Copenhagen. He is Danish. The last two years or so I've been playing with other drummers and bass players though. One drummer that is extraordinary is Zoltan Jurs. He played the drums with the trio when we went to USA to tour. A bass player that's been in the trio for a while is Markus Hengsen. He's a young guy and is playing great on both electric and upright already, so watch out for him. Markus is studying right now at the same school Jonas and I were studying 14 years ago. Another bass player I also play with is Svante Sjerkvist. He has also studied at the Friedensvokeskola and is a great double bass player. [00:28:43] Speaker A: How did your recording of Initiation, which is your first cd, come about and how long did it take to record and write the material? [00:28:51] Speaker B: The recording initiation came about just after the Egypt tour. We had a couple of gigs in Sweden. When we came back, one gig was in Lund at Meiri. A great spot to play. After the concert an elder man approached us and asked, do you guys have anything against me financing an album with you? No, we said. That's one of the first and only moments I've said no to something that feels. Yes, yes, yes. So off we went. It took three days to record it. No overdubs or anything. Just to keep the live feeling to it. We mixed it for the same amount of days. The material for the album was all written especially for the trio format. I'll let you in on what I think is a very interesting story. When planning the COVID to the album Initiation, there was a guy who was supposed to draw a picture for it. But time went and nothing happened. So I drew a picture myself when it was finished and looked at it. There were 12 symbols in the painting and the number of the songs were 12. Coincidence? Maybe, but it sure was pretty amazing to me. So I figured that maybe it's meant to be a symbol that goes for each song. [00:30:06] Speaker A: That's very interesting. [00:30:08] Speaker B: So it was. They all fit neatly together and the underlying meaning of each song was also there in the symbols. [00:30:16] Speaker A: Now we we let off the interview with your composition initiation from your latest album, Anatoly. Tell us a little bit about what this song is about. [00:30:28] Speaker B: The tune inunitiation is a fast blues in C minor. The melody is in 12 bars and the solo is in 24 bars. That's the double time on each chord. When Jonas, the bass player and I were studying music together at the threedems we played a lot in duo format and I remember us playing all the really fast bebop tunes in unison. We played songs as Donna Lee, confirmation, etc. In one way, initiation reminds me of this. On the other hand, it's also about getting initiated into something you, the listener, are through this whole album, Initiation, getting initiated to my playing and a small piece of my universe when it comes to music. The whole city was recording in three days, so it's actually a mirror of how we played those exact three days only. Anyway, I thought it would be a great name for my first album, since it's an opener and initiation and also a teaser what is to come for the future. [00:31:28] Speaker A: Wings of Light strikes me as a very interesting composition. Something that would be more or less a floating melody. Along those lines, can you explain a little bit as to what this piece is all about? [00:31:44] Speaker B: If you would be able to fly and had wings of light, what would that feel like? This is my interpretation of that. [00:38:24] Speaker A: Okay, we're going to listen to some music from Anatoly Wilkins album Initiation. And I'd like to ask you, Anatoly, before we get to the the song, give us a little bit of background about what the Underdog is about. [00:38:39] Speaker B: There is always something going on in any society, underground wise, that could be within music. For instance, for example, music that draws a small crowd of people, that maybe turns into a club, a society, and that eventually leads to more and more popularity and a whole new genre of music is born. The same goes for politics or any subject by that matter, I call that the Underdog. [00:44:25] Speaker A: I know that the rest of the songs off of Initiation must have a story behind them. I just want you to discuss with the listeners, Anatoly, what are the characteristics of these songs and what's the story behind them? Let's start off with children. Life is an open sky. [00:44:45] Speaker B: This song is one of three songs I wrote especially for my daughter Zalea's baptizing. It's about childhood, when your energy is so pure and you are closest to God and life really is is an open sky. The tune Tripitaka is best described by the meaning of the word as it's written. For example, on the Dhammakaya Foundation's website, tea or tree means three and pitaka means basket. Just as a basket is used to contain necessary articles for specific use. Each of the three pitakas contain various discourses necessary for successful life. The teachings of the Buddha are classified into three major parts. The Vinaya, the Sutta or Sutanatha and the Abhidhamma collectively known as the Work. I like to look at the three musicians of the trio as three baskets, all containing specific articles or energies, experiences, knowledge, skills and more that each of us bring to the tunes, musician wise. The three baskets we then put together in one big basket and out comes the music and that's the trio. I also have to clarify at this point that I'm not a Buddhist or any ist at all for that matter. All religions have good things and I'm sorry to say, also bad things. I'm taking with me the good things and leaving the bad behind. I believe in God and what I mean when I say the word God is total love. [00:51:09] Speaker A: My name is Randy McElligott and you're listening to In Transition on Chuo FM 89.1. And now back to more for my conversation with guitarist Anatoly Bulkin Planet Hollywood. [00:51:23] Speaker B: Is a blues in B flat. I like to look on Hollywood and filmmaking. There is a whole planet of itself, Planet Hollywood. I later heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger has a chain of fast food restaurants with the same name. Pintor means painter in Portuguese. I learnt the meaning of the word later though. This is a song dedicated to a man I met who was in a wheelchair with no ability to speak or getting through to you in any sense. I was told that he had been like you and me, running around on the beaches of Portugal, laughing, playing and talking. Something happened though, and he got some disease that led to the overproduction of water in his brain and that eventually made him worse and worse towards not being able to move and speak at all. His name was Pintore. The tune focuses in on when he was young and all was well, but also with the hint of what was to come. Imagine a house down a street and the street number 4 18. It's a funky house full of dance and groovy music. Then you have it. It's a house, not a song. Eternal affairs is about the feeling that, for example, within music or life, the more you learn, the more you understand how little your knowledge actually is. This feeling can sometimes be nice to have because you know it will not end, and sometimes it can get devastated about it as well. It's actually about how you experience any situation, good or evil. Your choice. I wanted a song with a folkish vibe to it and also with some almost cinematic parts within the tune. During the bass solo there is one part that is totally open. Nothing written at all except to keep it around the tonality of E. And of course my feeling of what I wanted it to be. For me, that part became one of the most beautiful moments of the whole album. The tune Presence is dedicated to John Coltrane. It's about trying to have a 100% presence in what you do. Like a child building a castle in the sand. There's nothing else in the whole world than exactly that castle for the child. And also trying to bring presence to other dimensions as an adult. Metaphorically speaking, it's if you're sitting inside the train, you won't see the stations within music, I.e. chords, etc. Coming up. And it's much harder to be in the presence. But if you're sitting on the roof of the train, you will see all the stations coming up. Presence is one key to a more joyful existence. I think Mr. And Mrs. America is about the American dream and the symbol on the record for this song is a traffic light but with all green lights. In other words, it says Go go go. It's an optune with lots of energy that for me resembles the energy that I as a citizen from another country see when I look on America from the outside. [00:54:35] Speaker A: You recently toured Australia and various parts of Africa. Describe how these tours came about and how they furthered your musical development. [00:54:44] Speaker B: I have toured Egypt, Reunion Island, Australia, Mauritius, usa, uk and every tour brings something new to your playing and composing and you also learn a lot as a human being. Most of the tours came about through the Internet and people out there who has festivals and clubs and say that they just love what they heard on our site so they invite us to come and play. One example is that the guy who was in charge of the music booking at the Frankston International Guitar Festival in Australia accidentally found our website and he wrote in our guestbook that he just loved the music and that maybe we could come to Australia and their festival to play someday. One year later they invited us and off we went. [00:55:36] Speaker A: With the emergence of the Internet, how has this new paradigm affected your relationship with your fans? [00:55:42] Speaker B: With the emergence of the Internet, the relationship with my fans has grown immensely. I have daily contacts through emails with fans all over the globe. Some of the fans wants to help out spreading the word and gets CDs and brings them to radio stations, TV mags, festivals, clubs, you name it. This is my daughter playing the djembe drum in the background if you're wondering. Some fans just want an autographed photo or a poster. Some guy in USA just wrote in an email that my music was the best that has happened to him. He has his daily trip to our site listening to A tune called Panacea to get his daily dose, he wrote. Another fan in Hong Kong wanted me to send Plectrum, so I did. Of course it feels really great for me to be able to connect and communicate so easily and cost effective also with my fans through the Internet. We are right now in the process of adding two different forums to our website, one for the fans to discuss between themselves and one forum where I will answer any questions the fans may have. That will be lots of fun and I'm really looking forward to that. [00:57:00] Speaker A: What plans do you have for the future in terms of recordings and various projects? [00:57:05] Speaker B: My plans for the future in terms of recordings and various projects is that I'm planning a tour in Reunion island in April and also in India in November this year. I'm also planning a couple of tours with the Trio featuring some names on bass and drums. There's a couple of releases scheduled. One is with a band called Cosmic Sound and is due for release in April I think, and one with the Guitar Big band called the Major 7 Guitar Big Band that is being mixed right now. Other releases I'm planning is New Tree Recording, a live recording with the Anatoly Vulcan Band, and a studio recording with the Anatoly Bulkin Group. There is also a couple of new projects I'm working on that is going to be lots of fun with both unique music and musicians and more involved. It's all a secret at this point, so I can't tell you anything more about it, but I can tell you one thing and that it's going to be totally something else. [00:58:15] Speaker A: You're listening to Chuo FM broadcasting from the University of Ottawa at 89.1 FM. Here's more of my conversation with guitarist Anatoly Bolkin. Now I'm curious. Your last name doesn't strike me as being Swedish in origin. Sounds like it may be Russian. [00:58:38] Speaker B: My father is from Russia, that's the reason for my name and my mother is Swedish. In the year of 1944 my father, four years old, his sister and my grandmother fled from Russia and the war to Finland. Later on they moved to Sweden and settled here. My Russian grandfather also fled later, but the Finns sent him back to Russia after the war and he was in a war camp in Siberia for a very, very long time. We don't know how long actually, but he remarried later and died sometime in the 80s. My father tried to go to Russia several times to meet him, but he never got a visa. [00:59:19] Speaker A: Now here's a question that I've asked many people. And I'm curious as to what your response would be. If you were stranded on a desert island and you only had 10 recordings to bring with you, which ones would they be? [00:59:31] Speaker B: If I was stranded on a desert island and I could only bring 10 recordings with me, they would be 1. Travels, Patmutheni Group, Pure Magic 2. Initiation, Anatoly Bulkin Trio. That's me. Just listen to it over and over again. And also transcribe all my solos on it to draw inspiration from and to get a more clear view on where I want to go next. This is a tip from Mr. David Liebman. As I mentioned earlier, he said, don't transcribe others, transcribe yourself. Billy at Khan, any album with him? He's one of the giants of Indian classical music and plays guitar. Any album with Mozart. Mozart's music is very special. It's hard to describe, but it feels like it's almost cleansing the aura and the mind. It's very uplifting music. And his music feels very pure and has an almost childlike energy. In a good sense, that is Atlantis with Wayne Shorter. Bamba, Milton Cardona. [01:00:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I have to agree with you, Anatholy. Can you describe further the rhythms, the African and Cuban rhythms that are so important in Milton Cardona's compositions? [01:00:58] Speaker B: Rhythms has always fascinated me deeply. This is one of my favorite albums when it comes to traditional African music. This music comes originally from a tribe called the Yoruba in Nigeria, Africa. There are always three drummers playing on one drum each. The word for all the drums together are bata. They have all their unique role in the rhythm and its patterns. The world of patterns, songs and rhythms in the Yoruba tradition is vast. It never seems to end. And the songs are very beautiful. Also. [01:01:35] Speaker A: What are the specific names of those drums? [01:01:38] Speaker B: The specific names of the drums are Itotele, Okonkolo and Ia. The different rhythm patterns goes each for a specific song dedicated to a God. They have lots of different gods. For instance, Yemaya, she's the God of the sea. Milton Cardona, who leads this ensemble, is born on Cuba. While the tradition of Yoruba Africa naturally came with the slaves many years ago, the Yoruba tradition is very active in Cuba and still thrives there. [01:02:08] Speaker A: Okay, let's get back to your top 10. What do you select for your number seven choice? [01:02:15] Speaker B: Number seven, weather report, 8:30 live. Number eight, the river's deep with Jerry Gonzalez and the Ford Apache Band. A live album with lots of humor and energy. I just love it. Number nine, The Mystery Sky, Charlie Hayden and Pat Metheny. [01:02:33] Speaker A: Again, I have to agree with you on that one. I don't know what it is about this album, but I find it actually very relaxing. What do you think? [01:02:42] Speaker B: This is one of the most relaxing albums I've ever heard. It's so beautiful. [01:02:47] Speaker A: And finally, anatholy, your number 10 choice. [01:02:51] Speaker B: And finally, number 10, the sound of tropical birds. Hopefully there are birds on the island, but just in case. [01:03:09] Speaker A: Anatoly, I'd like to thank you for dropping by today on In Transition and sharing with us some of your musical moments and ideas and reflections about music in general. All the best, Anatoly. And hopefully we'll do this again at some point. [01:03:23] Speaker B: Thanks a million for having me on the show.