Album Notes

Georgia is situated in the center of the grand collision between the European and Asian land masses. The continents crash, rise spectacularly in the Caucasus mountains, and release their tensions into the Black Sea. Georgian culture is born from this encounter between Europe and Asia, mountain and sea. The twin pillars of Georgian culture are polyphonic singing and the supra. The supra is a Georgian feast with copious amounts of homemade wine and profound toasting. At such gatherings of families and friends, music rises organically as the spirits are lifted. It was in this atmosphere that these recordings were made, simply with a single microphone but with great passion and soul. If one travels to Georgia, one finds oneself not only dazzled by the talents of individual singers and musicians but constantly in awe of the collective cultural wealth of the Georgian singing tradition.

Iveroni is an ensemble of talented young singers and musicians from various regions of the Caucasus Mountain nation of Georgia. Organized by Romanoz Lashkhia, Iveroni consists of the soaring lead vocals of Giorgi Chikovani and Davit Gogitishvili, Lashkhia and Beka Tcertcvadze in the middle, and Davit Batiashvili providing the bass. They perform with a tremendous force and energy the traditional polyphonic songs of Georgia. The music is of love and heroism and is played and sung with a strong spirit of brotherhood. In addition to the forceful group interplay of vocals, the instrumental accompaniment includes Chikovani playing the panduri, Gogitishvili on the salamuri, Tcertcvadze on changuri, and Lashkhia playing bass panduri. The recordings were made on location in the Old City of Tbilisi.