Mamer heralds from the Chinese province of Xinjiang but now lives in Beijing. He is a singer/songwriter who sings in his native Kazak in a deep barritone voice. Over the years he has become a fixture on the Beijing folk music circuit. Now he is coming to London to play at the Union Chapel on 16th May as part of the Barbican's Beyond The Wall festival. His new CD Eagle is out on Real World Records on 18th May.
I played a couple of tracks on my Resonance FM show from Eagle; I'm really enjoying listening to the CD. It is quite varied, modern folk music with a range of musical instruments and sounds. At times it is reminiscent of Sa Ding Ding's style. Xinjiang province in China borders many other countries and the majority of people there are not Mandarin speaking Han Chinese. You can hear the folk influences from the countries that surround Mamer's birthplace - Tibet, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Reminding us again what a huge and diverse country China is.
The album has been produced by Robin Haller & Matteo Scumaci.
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