JAUSMĖ (LITHUANIA)
EXTRAORDINARY ZITHER MUSIC AS AN EMOTIONAL REFUGE
POST-FOLK, FINE ELECTRONICS, BEAUTIFUL VOICE AND ANCIENT ZITHER
A modern thinking singer-songwriter trying to break the stereotypical thinking about the cithera kankles as an old instrument, associated exclusively with folk music and the folk milieu. Her long-time residence in Bristol, UK, contacts with the electronic scene and work on soundtracks for the BBC allow her to look innovatively at Lithuanian zither traditions and find new sonic potential for the instrument through a specific style of playing. The same applies to Jausmė's music, in which she has turned echoes of tradition into experimental post-folk with an input of electronics, jazz and soul, matching on the album Namolio (Homeward) the author's poetry strongly linked to her relationship with nature, her native language and her love of bands such as The Cinematic Orchestra and Radiohead.
The Kanklés belongs to the Baltic zither family and comes in several varieties differing in size and number of strings. The one played by Jausmė has twenty-nine strings and was constructed in the 1960s. A relatively modern instrument, it is nevertheless intrinsically linked to Lithuanian legends dating back to pagan times, emphasising man's interconnectedness with nature, of which he remains a part even after death. Then his soul settles in the crown of the tree, and when you cut it down and make a kanklés zither, it then takes on the voice of the deceased. This is why Jausmė claims that her music is an emotional refuge for sensitive souls.
Photo:
James Koch (na seznamu účinkujících), Chelsey Cliff (profil)
