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Party-time! With Macedonian Gypsy friends, Berovo, Macedonia, 1984
© K Sanders 2002, 2008 |
One time cane-cutter, meatworks labourer and
documentary film researcher, World Music pioneer Kim
Sanders has steamed up the coast of Sumatra in a tramp
steamer full of rubber, survived border crossings with Georgian gun runners and
been arrested for spying by a Macedonian Brezhnev lookalike. He has played on
national radio in Bulgaria
and national TV in Indonesia,
with Gypsy wedding bands in Macedonia,
in mosquito-ridden clubs in Gambia,
tavernas in Greece,
tea-houses in China and
concert-halls from the Ataturk Kultur Merkezi in Istanbul to the Sydney Opera House.
In '84/5 Kim spent eighteen months studying and performing in the Balkans,
Turkey and Gambia/Senegal in West Africa where he played with the Libidorr
Jazz Band. In '93/4 he returned to Turkey
and the Balkans and performed with Turkish/Greek group Phanari tis Anatolis
(aka Bosphoros), Zimbabwean mbira-player Stella Chiweshe and
musicians from the Filip Koutev (Bulgarian
State) Ensemble. He
performed solo on Radio Sofia and recorded with Phanari tis Anatolis and
Turkish singer Oguz Yilmaz.
In '96 he toured Indonesia
with Sawung Jabo's innovative music/dance production Bayang-Bayang and
returned to Indonesia
in 00 and 03 with Indonesian-World group GengGong, in 05 and 07 with Trio
Dingo and in 06 and 07 as soloist. He has recorded in Indonesia with GengGong and
singers Setiawan Djodi and Oppie Andaresta.
In '00/01 Kim returned to Turkey to continue his studies in
Turkish Classical, Sufi, Gypsy and folk music. He performed with Laz musician Birol
Topaloglu and with the Turkish Ministry for Culture’s Istanbul State
Modern Folk Music Ensemble. He was the subject of a short documentary on
Turkish television. He returned to Turkey in 07/08 and studied with
ney master Ahmet Kaya and Gypsy
clarinetist Selim Sesler. Amongst others he performed with
percussionist Okay
Temiz and with the Turkish incarnation of Kim Sanders & Friends.
In 04 he performed in Beijing as a soloist and worked with
pioneering Chinese World-Jazz ensemble Tianchuang.
In Australia Kim was
co-leader (with Linsey Pollak) of Australia's
first World-Jazz band (Rabadaki, 79) and has since played with musicians
from every continent except Antarctica
(including Flamenco Dreaming, Nakisa, Okapi Guitar Band, Seaweed & Wire,
Chichitote, Davood Tabrizi, Descendance and Balcano). He performed with Zülfü Livaneli (Turkey), Bahar (Iran) and the Bisserov Sisters (Bulgaria) on
their Australian tours. In the 90s he lead legendary "Gypsy-Afro- World"
band Brassov and is currently working with Bulgarian folk singer Silvia
Entcheva, Indonesian/World groups GengGong and Trio Dingo and
in various ensembles featuring musicians including Indian tabla master Bobby
Singh, Macedonian clarinettist Bobby Dimitrievski, Greek
singer/bouzouki-player George Doukas and jazz masters Sandy Evans, Steve Elphick and Toby Hall.
He also performs as a soloist and has played on the
soundtracks of many movies and theatre productions.
Kim plays Macedonian, Turkish and Bulgarian gaidas (bagpipes), aardvark
(Australian-Turkish- Bulgarian bass bagpipe); Bulgarian and Turkish kavals
(long wooden flutes), saluang (Sumatran flute), furulya (Hungarian flute) and
ney (Dervish flute); mey, duduk, guanzi (Turkish, Armenian, Chinese double reed
instruments); zurna (Turkish/Balkan shawm); tenor sax; tin whistle; davul
(dauli, tapan)(drum) and small percussion. He also arranges ensembles for
special events, and composes music for films and stage productions.
"Masterly control of subtlety…very soulful
playing" - Diaspora Worldbeat Magazine
"Sanders' skills as an instrumentalist are
impressive… (As a composer, his work is) new and genuinely exciting" -
Chris Williams, fROOTS Magazine (UK)
"I will never view animals in quite the same
way after seeing Sanders' inflated menagerie of bagpipes. But it was the
saxophone that most warmed the blood: a big, braying honking beast of a thing
that could unexpectedly whisper sweet nothings in your ear" - John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald
"Virtually a force unto himself in world music
scenes" - Drum Media
"…the magical voice of Kim
Sanders' saxophone" - Yogja Pos, Indonesia
"There are no more than a few Australian
musicians who have made certain types of folk music their stamping-ground.
Multi-instrumentalist Kim Sanders is
one" - Australian Financial Review
"Kim Sanders
was particularly effective on Turkish and Macedonian bagpipes, peeling off
lines that were both inventive and convincingly idiomatic." - John
Clare, Sydney Morning Herald
"More, more, more!" - Kuranda Seyit,
Australian Muslim News
Click here for a downloadable interview with Kim on the Jazz and Beyond Web site and click here to hear Hans Stoeve of 2SER-FM talking with Kim
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