Album Notes

Jazz, Blues, Spirituals, World Music, Opera, Choral and Art Song performed by the artists of American Voices and our partners in Burma, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus:

• Art Music Academy, Rangoon
• Kazakh traditional and jazz artists
• Beribakh Choir, Baku
• Choir of the Music Academy of Minsk

www.americanvoices.org

American Voices Around the World features live highlights from our festivals and artist-in-residence programs around the globe:
• Jazz festivals in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan
• Jazz Bridges project in Burma
• Soul of America concerts in Belarus

Please enjoy the artists of American Voices and their collaborative performances with traditional musicians and ensembles from these countries. Our recordings from Kazakhstan feature highlights from our Kazakh Jazz Night concerts with Stian Carstensen and Kazakh traditional instrumentalists. The Burmese tracks feature a unique synthesis of East and West.

In Anavatan Azerbaijan, CoCo York joins Baku’s Beribakh Children’s Choir in an original composition, and Deborah Carter and Mike Del Ferro give unforgettable renditions of popular songs by Azerbaijan’s great songwriter Tofig Guliyev.

This recording concludes with a spirited collaboration between Ira Spaulding, John Ferguson and the amazing Minsk Academy of Music Choir. We are sure you will enjoy the vocal beauty of this choir. As you will hear in “It Ain’t Necessarily So,”’ the Belarusians have a good feel for American humor!

Half the proceeds from the sale of this CD will go to benefit our project partners in Burma, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus
:
• Baku Big Band, Azerbaijan
• Almaty Jazz School, Kazakhstan
• Art Music Academy, Burma
• Music Academy of Minsk, Belarus