Reviews

Two Updates

# The Copenhagen, Denmark concert went great. Many thanks to the Russian Center for Science and Culture, namely -- Tatyana and Natalia, for organizing it! There was about 25 people there, mostly Danish. I played 16 songs, old and new, to great reception. Funnily enough, there was a man in the audience, Per Warming, my friend on Facebook, who translates Vysotsky into Danish.

# Leonid Verman, a guitarist from the Russian death metal band STALWART, who has so far contributed to two songs on my album, was in New York for the past couple of days. Naturally, I couldn't miss an opportunity like this. We have had a photoshoot with Yuri and Leonid, on location and in the studio, followed by a recording session with Leonid, for the song "IF YOUR FRIEND." Thanks, Lenya!

My next show: Copenhagen, Aug 29
RUSSIAN CENTER FOR SCIENCES & CULTURE

Copenhagen, Denmark
Vester Voldgade 11
Phone: 33 15 83 33
ruscenter@mail.dkm

Sunday, August 29, 16.30

Radio "GOROD FM" & Album updates
# Yesterday I gave an hour long interview to radio
GOROD FM
(99.9 in Brooklyn), during which they played 5 songs off the first CD. Kudos to host Tanya, she was very sweet, lovely, and animated. Sorry for not giving heads-up, but this was a last minute invite.

# Yuri and I are engaged full-throttle in the recording of the song with the working title "TRIAL BY MOUNTAIN" ("Песня о Друге"). Yuri wrote killer main melody, and yesterday we laid down the vocal tracks.

"Race to the Horizon" is finished
After a long session last night, Yuri and I have finished the next track, "Race to the Horizon." This is going to be an album opener and also one of the heavier songs there.

Stay tuned!

Interview on BBC-Russia
Interview on BBC-Russia with me was conducted by their anchor, Seva Novgorodcev, and aired today. You can listen to it here, while it lasts:

BBC-RUSSIA (in Russian)
(22-28 min. mark)

Stay put for more news!

Fragment of "Robin Hood" on Radio Freedom (Russia)
Today my translations have been one of the topics in the program "Beyond Borders: American Hour," a talk show program between Alexander Genis and Solomon Volkov on the Russian radio station RADIO FREEDOM (Радио Свобода). They mentioned Vysotsky's translations into English and played first two verses of "Robin Hood" on the radio. Kudos to them both!

Updates

# Played a small concert in Brooklyn, in "Fez Art Cafe." A very intimate atmosphere, but I wish it didn't rain so heavily on that day.

# "Race to the Horizon" is in full throttle. With some luck, we can have it done by the end of July. Many thanks to Leo Verman of STALWART for his killer guitar!

Track #2 is finished
"Death Convoy," started last November, finished last night. Wfew... moving right along, at a snail's pace...

Sorry for the delay
There are very few developments in the recording process (it's slow as is, but also exacerbated by Yuri's intense schedule), but it's kinda moving along. Just to give everybody an update:

1. One song, "Gypsy Blues" ("Цыганская") is completely finished.

2. Another song, "Death Convoy" ("Прикованные Шоферы", "Песня Солодова") is almost finished. My good friend from St. Petersburg, Leo Verman, a guitarist for a death metal band, STALWART, has contributed a solo, and we are now working on encorporating it into a song.

3. We have already started working "Race to the Horizon" ("Горизонт"). John Macaluso has recorded drums, Yuri has recorded most of the bass, and I have recorded most of the vocals. There is a hope for a very famous guitarist to come by our studio next week to lay the guitar parts, but we'll see. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

That's all for now.

Photos from Fair Lawn, NJ
The gig went well, but I wish there were more people there. Still, big thanks to those that came and Volodya for the second guitar.

Upcoming Show in Fair Lawn, NJ
Cafe "Creme de La Crepes"
12-56 River Rd.
Fair Lawn, NJ

Sunday, January 10, 2010
6 pm

Featuring a Russian poetess, Julia Belotserkovskaya, and my longtime friend, Vladimir Ponomarev, who this time will be playing guitar.

Concert was a success
It was about 20 people and it was very intimate. I also did a little experiment: since this was the introduction of many of the new songs -- some of them not very familiar even to many Russians -- I interspersed my translations with the Vysotsky's recorded originals in Russian. I was risking sounding vastly inferior to the original, but, strangely enough, it went over very well. The energy and the delivery of the original were in congruence with my live presence. One girl said to me that when she listens to me, she always subconsciously tries to recall "how it sounds in Russian." But in this instance, with the Russian original having just played, she could just enjoy the translated poetry. Being the first time I've ever played most of these songs, I was making little mistakes here and there, but overall it went well. Great reception, decent sound, good energy and feeling overall. Excellent!

Setlist (new songs have original titles in the parentheses):

The Cab Meter
Uphill (Песня о Друге)
Tale of a Wild Boar, a King, a Princess, and an Ex-Royal Ranger (Про Дикого Вепря)
Race to the Horizon (Горизонт)
Robin Hood
Ballad of Love Eternal (Баллада о Любви)
Death Convoy (Прикованные Шоферы)
He Didn't Return from the Battle (Он Вчера не Вернулся из Боя)
A Merry Funeral Song (Веселая Покойницкая)
The One Who Was with Her Before
Two Fates (Две Судьбы)

Encores:

S.O.S.
Лирическая
Диалог у Телевизора
Камнем Грусть Висит на Мне
Охота на Волков

Two people made video recordings of the gig. I'll see what I can do with posting it here, once it's ready.

Again, thanks to everybody who came and who keeps supporting me!

V

My Poetic Night in New York

Dec. 3, Thursday, 6.30 pm, Russian Bookstore #21 (5th Ave and 22nd St.)

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Vadim Astrakhan Presents: "New Translations of Vysotsky: Work in Progress"

Vadim Astrakhan, a poet / translator / musician, who has recently released the album of translations of songs by Russia's greatest singer-songwriter, Vladimir Vysotsky, invites you to a unique performance. He would like to introduce his newly translated material, followed up by the discussion, in which you will be invited to participate. Of course, the performance will include some of the old favorites as well.

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Вадим Астрахан представляет: "Новые Переводы Высоцкого: Рабочий Процесс"

Вадим Астрахан, поэт / музыкант / переводчик, недавно выпустивший альбом переводов песен Владимира Высоцкого, приглашает вас на уникальный вечер. На нем состоится представление нового материала и последующее обсуждение, в котором будут участвовать все присутствующие. Конечно же в программе будут исполнены и старые произведения.

Back from ProgPower X
I'm back from ProgPower X USA! It was excellent, as always. However, I must admit, there were no "perfect" performances for me. Every band that I saw had some kind of a flaw. Even Brainstorm, that came the closest, had Andy Franck forgetting lyrics on THREE songs! Other than that, they were their usual machine-like selves. Crimson Glory was emotional, Royal Hunt -- lush, Sabaton -- tight, and Diablo Swing Orchestra -- fun.

Interviews will follow.

Russian radio GorodFM
Завтра, во вторник, я буду в гостях на радио ГородФМ, с 8 до 10 вечера по восточному времени. Если хотите, то идите сюда:

http://www.gorodfm.com