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Friday, November 11, 2011
HuDost in Ottawa 11-11-11 Invocation Celebration
Westboro Masonic Hall
430 Churchill Avenue
Ottawa, ON
7:30pm – 10:30pm
HuDost with special guests Jeremy Sills & Jody Marsolais
returns to Ottawa on November 11, 2011 for
11-11-11
Where Will U BE?
An Invocational Evening of Song, Sound Healing & Celebration!
Light refreshments and snacks included
$18 Advance/$22 Door/$15 Students
Take advantage of the $18 Advance price and buy online:
Neo-Folk World Sufi Rock ‘Country & Eastern’ fusion ensemble HuDost is living proof that the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts, pulling together musical styles as diverse as the jellies in Marco Polo’s kitchen cupboard. Their music weaves a seamless tapestry that renders tears and laughter in listeners, cultivating that nameless longing that abides somewhere in all our hearts.
Their forthcoming release, entitled Waking the Skeleton Key, contains the first songs written by lead singer Moksha Sommer since she underwent brain surgery to have a tumor removed which impacted her language abilities. Music was her primary tool in fully regaining all that was lost and continuing to grow as a musician and a lyricist. Both her resilience and the fragility of life come through in these songs. The EP also contains remixes of tracks from their most recent album Trapeze, produced by Grammy Winner Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Peter Gabriel), which left both critics and fans raving about its beauty, versatility, and musicianship. Waking the Skeleton Key is being mixed by Grammy Winner Oz Fritz (Tom Waits, John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Primus, Zakir Hussain).
HuDost brings forth a rich, eclectic blending of traditional Sufi music, Bulgarian, Croatian, Macedonian and Balkan folk music, Farsi, Turkish, Arabic, Folk, Pop and Rock, their sound crosses all borders and barriers, taking the listener on a journey they will not soon forget. Some of their events include ‘Sufi Kirtan’, or ‘Zikr’. During evenings of Sufi Kirtan and Song, HuDost, delves into the depth of the human heart and how phenomenally accessible it is through music. Zikr is the Sufi term identifying a practice of chanting and singing that is done in groups; it literally means remembrance. Zikr inspires the remembrance of breath, of sound, of heart, of consciousness, and of people, places, and situations needing one’s awareness. During these evenings, whoever is present will be able to partake in Zikr and in sharing the astonishing multi-cultural music that HuDost explores.
Having toured the US constantly since April 2006 and also playing shows across Canada, Europe and even as far east as Turkey, HuDost has brought their atmospheric and resonant songs all across the globe. Some of their most memorable shows include performances at CoSM in NYC, the Salvador Dali Museum, Kripalu Center, Omega Institute, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, FloydFest, The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Rumi Festival at the Carborro Arts Center, headlining SE NPR’s World Fusion Fest, WMNF’s Tropical Heat Wave, Music City Roots, WoodSongs at the Kentucky Theater, Nashville’s Bluebird Café, and Tim Robbins’ WTF?! Fest at the Actor’s Gang Theater. HuDost has also opened for the California Guitar Trio and Jefferson Starship and has worked with Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Neko Case and Mercan Dede. HuDost have done collaborative performances with artist Alex Grey numerous times and have been the performers for workshops led by Deepak Chopra, Caroline Myss, Coleman Barks and others. They have also opened for and performed with Snatam Kaur and GuruGanesha.
Bringing to the group a strong musical training background, Sommer has traveled the globe, studying no less than 12 distinctive vocal styles from around the world. Her clear, soaring voice, is matched by the grungy underbelly of Jemal’s guitar mastery and rhythmic propensity. Adding to the group’s musically eclectic and original feel is the unexpected edge the group contributes with its exotic instrumentation that includes harmonium, bouzouki, oud and bendir among others.
