Izlezi Mome na Čardakot is a traditional Macedonian song in ⅞ time signature, commonly found in traditional Macedonian music and elsewhere in the Balkans. Playful and lighthearted in character, the song describes passions and pangs of young love. To my delight Shira Kammen joined in on vielle, enhancing the playful character and expanding the story with her seductive improvisations. I also invited Vessela Stoyanova, Boston based mallet percussionist I admired for a long time, to perfect the atmosphere by playing the tapan. A large two-headed drum, tapan is played with a wood mallet on one side, and a switch-like stick pivoting on the other. Tapan can be found, under slightly different names, all across the territories of the former Ottoman Empire. Often played at weddings and other festivities, Tapan supports the dance rhythm.
Izlezi Mome was recorded, mixed and mastered by Joel Edinberg. It's available for streaming on Amazon, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and all the other streaming platforms.
Multi-instrumentalist and occasional vocalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. Raised by a violinist mom and a scientist dad who was a serious amateur singer, Kammen studied music at the University of California at Berkeley. Across her career she has performed and recorded with countless early-music ensembles and coached countless players in workshops around the country. She is particularly renowned for her skill as an improviser, something she first contemplated as a young player when she realized that not every recording of the same piece sounded the same. She gives credit to her mentor, vielle player Margriet Tindemans, for encouraging her to develop her improvisatory skills.
A Star in the Medieval Firmament
A widely respected performer, composer, and educator, Vessela Stoyanova is a triple treat on the Boston music scene.
Born and raised in Bulgaria, much of her original composition is inspired by the folk music of the Balkans, which has lent her a unique voice especially combined with her background as a classical percussionist and connoisseur of a variety of contemporary music styles. Vessela’s own compositions have been recorded by numerous ensembles and performed at major New England area venues including the Berklee Performance Center, Jordan Hall, The Loeb Drama Center at the American Repertory Theater, Mechanic’s Hall in Worcester, as well as at many smaller venues around the U.S. and Europe.
As a performer Vessela combines virtuosic mallet technique with the world of electronics, using the rare “Marimba Lumina” — a sophisticated mallet MIDI controller. Currently she performs and writes for a unique project under the name of “Samodivi” with a personnel that ranges in size from a solo act to a 20 piece band. Vessela is also the co-founder and one half of Goli — a modern chamber music duo with long term collaborator Valerie Thompson. Previously, Vessela was the co-founder, marimbist and composer for .WAV, Fluttr Effect, Marimbira, and Bury Me Standing. She has also performed with the Jazz Composers Alliance, Odd Songs, and The Bespoke Consort, where she was often featured as a soloist.
Izlezi mome
Izlezi mome na čardakot
Da vidiš, mome, oro golemo.
Na oro, mome, na oro,
Mladi ergeni, ubavi momi.
Vezden šetam, mome, samo gledam
Do tebe, mome, da zaigram.
Srceto mi gori za tebe,
Ne možam mome bez tebe.
Come out miss
Come out onto the balcony miss,
So that you, miss, can see the big circle dance.
In the circle dance, miss,
There are young bachelors and beautiful maidens.
All day long I stroll, miss, and I keep watch
In hope to dance right next to you.
My heart burns for you!
I cannot go on without you.