BRIGA

Briga hits R.O.C ("reste" of Canada = Ontario) this October 2011

2011-10-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

What does it look like when Briga & the Band hits the road in the provice of Québec? Well... kinda like the pic you see above.

Now imagine them heading out to the province ofOntario. Pretty much the same idea, only this timeAlix (dude to the left w/sunglasses) won't be able "borrow" this blue minivan from another Montréal band and shamelessly put 800km on it like last time.

Nope, Briga & the Band will be repenting for their bad behaviour, honoring the environment, and taking advantage of Megabus' seat sale to come out and play Toronto Thursday, October 13th...

When: Thursday, October 13th 2011
Where: Musideum (Q Music Studios) 401 Richmond Stree West Toronto (@ Spadina), ON
What time: doors at 7pm, show at 8pm
RSVP tickets @ $10: info@musideum.com
Tickets at door: $15 (or barter down the price with Briga if you are a student or musician)

And after that, Briga and the Band are off to the OCFF Showcase at Niagara, ON from October 14th - 16th. The new album Turbo Folk Stories will be tested there... only as a teaser since it won't be officially released until the Spring of 2012. Stay tuned for album release and tour dates!

Summer Shows & Studio Time - Spectacles d'été et la rentrée en studio

2011-07-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! Salut tout le monde! (Pour lire en Français, descendre la page)

So a quick update for shows this summer. Briga will be playing solo in:
-Edmonton, AB on July 18th @ Dawn's Juke Joint
-Calgary, AB on July 25th @ Kawa Expresso Bar w/guests Vi An Diep & Matt Hanson
She will also be gracing the stage with klezmer accordeonist Geoff Berner and klezmer-hip hop star Socalled at the Calgary International Folk Festival July 21 - 24th.
To stay updated, you can check out Briga's facebook page: www.facebook.com/brigamusic

This past week, Briga & the gang wrapped up recording their next album in the studio. Everything was tracked live around a couple of microphones at Bob's studio, and the band had a blast discovering all the vintage gear available to them. A big shout out to the amazing team for creating such a great vibe and excellent music. To our right we have Tacfarinas Kichou (percussion) playing the guitar while Jérémi Roy (bass) gives us his "don't f%#k with me" morning face -->

And to our bottom left we have Marton Maderspach (drums) warming up...

with Alix Noël-Guéry checking out the keys on our bottom right...

While Briga & the band were recording, we had Producer Jay Atwill, Sound Engineer Lora Sokolova, and studio owner Bob Olivier keeping an eye on the music + sound, on top of guiding the gang into the pocket for each song (check out the pic below to the right). And one day, a bunch of clowns from Clowns without Borders were drawn into Bob's studio by Briga's music, and so inspired they were that they built a good luck shrine for the musicians. Briga had never met them before, nor did she know anything about their collective, but it was a very funny surprise ;) To the left you see Briga sitting with the shrine, that includes violin strings, a glass of rakia, a gipsy girl doll, rosin, a woman's shoe and more...

The studio part is done, and Briga is still fundraising to wrap up mixing, mastering, album art-work design and the printing of CDs-vinyl. Feel free to check out the perks and prizes!

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VERSION FRANÇAISE:

Salut tout le monde!

Voici une bonne nouvelle pour tout les franco-Albertains...cet été Briga jouera deux spectacles solo:

-à Edmonton, AB le 18 juillet @ Dawn's Juke Joint

-à Calgary, AB le 25 juillet @ Kawa Expresso Bar avec invités Vi An Diep et Matt Hanson

En plus de ça, elle accompagnera l'accordéonniste klezmer Geoff Berner et partagera la scène avec la vedette du klezmer-hip hop Socalled au Festival International de Musique Folk à Calgary du 21 au 24 juillet.

Cette semaine passé, Briga et ses musiciens ont terminé l'enregistrement du prochain album au studio chez Bob. La démarche était assez simple: on a placé quelques microphones dans la salle et on a laissé les musiciens jouer. Chez Bob c'est un vrai "dépotoire" d'équipement usagé des années '60, '70' et '80. Tout le monde s'est amusé à découvrir quelque chose qui pourrait lui servir dans la démarche créative... À notre droite se trouve Tacfarinas Kichou, notre percussionniste, en train de jouer la guitare... et Jérémi Roy, notre bassiste, qui se nourrit d'un premier café de la journée.

À gauche, ci-dessous nous avons notre batteur Marton Maderspach qui se réchauffe...

avec notre claviériste/accordéonniste Alix Noël-Guéry qui travaille son instrument...

Pendant que Briga et ses musiciens se concentraient sur leur interpretation, nous avions le réalisateur

Jay Atwill, la technicienne de son Lora Sokolova, et notre cher ami Bob Olivier qui gardaient un oeuil sur tout l'équipement pour se rassurer que le son se captait bien... Et quelle hasard: Un jour les Clounes sans Frontières ont entendus la musique de Briga et se sont invités chez Bob pour l'écouter. Tellement inspirés par la musique, ils se sont mit à bâtir un petit autel pour les musiciens. Dédié à la prospérité et le bienêtre des musiciens, vous pouvez voir l'autel et Briga à votre gauche, insi que les cordes de violon, un petit verre de rakia, une poupée tzigane, de la colophane, un soulier à talons hauts et plus...

L'enregistrement est terminé mais Briga continue de faire une levée de fonds pour pouvoir financer le mixing, mastering, et autres éléments pertinants à la production d'un Album. N'hésitez pas de cliquer sur notre site indiegogo si vous ne l'avez pas encore fait. Un grand merci à tout le monde!!

here comes the CD - l'Album s'en vient

2011-06-09T15:40:00.000-07:00

ENGLISH:

6 months after her adventures in Bulgaria, Briga & the band have polished off 9 new songs to be recorded live this July 2011 in a Montreal studio. These songs are a mix of traditional and original songs inspired from Briga's tour through the Balkans, along with her studies with Bulgaria's no.1 violinist: Georgi Yanev (Георги Янев).
Along with her fervent violin and stories sung of unlikely heroes and beautiful stars, Briga goes back to a folk roots sound in this album, all the while honouring its title: Turbo Folk Stories by making a light reference to the musical genres of Serbian Turbo-Folk and Bulgarian Chalga.
Check out our indiegogo site to see how you can get involved.

FRANÇAIS:
Six mois depuis son séjour en Bulgarie, Briga et ses musiciens ont peaufiné neuf nouvelles pièces qui seront enregistré live au mois de juillet 2011 dans un studio à Montréal. Le répertoire est un mélange de pièces traditionelles et compositions inspirés de sa tournée aux Balkans et de ses études avec le grand violoniste Bulgare Georgi Yanev (Георги Янев).
L'album, qui sera intitulé Contes Turbo Folk, aura un son qui tiens fort à la source et rigeur de la musique folklorique des pays de l'Est, tout en tirant une légère inspiration de la musique Turbo-Folk de la Serbie et de la musique Chalga de la Bulgarie. Vous pourrez toujours entendre le violon envoutant de Briga, tout en savourant ses récits improbables chanté aux héros perdus et aux déesses plus réel que vrai!
Cliquez sur notre site d'indiegogo pour voir comment vous pouvez vous impliquer dans le projet!

BRIGA + SASASA @ Casa del Popolo: June 2nd

2011-05-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! Salut tout le monde!

Français:
Briga prépare avec son groupe le nouveau répertoire pour l'enregistrement de son prochain album... Et pour vous emmener encore plus de nouveau, Briga a invité la gang de SASASA, un groupe avant-garde flamenco danse/musique, pour faire une double soirée avec elle ce jeudi:

English:
Briga is getting ready to record the next album, and the gang wants to try out some new tunes on you... To bring even more new to you, Briga called up her awesome avant-garde flamenco dance/music group friends by the name of SASASA to make it a double bill this Thursday evening:

Time	Thursday, June 2 at 8:30pm - June 3 at 12:30am

Location	La Casa Del Popolo 4873, boul Saint-Laurent Montreal, QC

	www.facebook.com/brigamusic

	C'est quoi ça?! WTF is this?! Et bien, pensez: "Bull's Paradise Café" meets "Turbo Folk Gypsy". Préparez-vous pour une soirée de danse / musique / projection et du tout nouveau répertoire à casser devant la foule. Light, fun, spring madness my friends! That's what you should be looking forward to. Come have some fun with us. www.brigamusic.com ------ www.sasasa.ca Briga est: -------------------------- SASASA est: Briga ------------------------------ Rae Bowhay Tacfarinas Kichou --------------- Mike Gasselsdorfer Jérémi Roy ----------------------- Miguel Medina Alix Noël-Guéry ----------------- Mélanie Scala Marton Maderspach ------------- Martin Trudel

Hope to see you there! Au plaisir de vous recevoir!

Geoff Berner & The Victory Party Band, Briga and her Band, Rae Spoon

2011-03-15T11:15:00.001-07:00

Flying back into Montreal from Norway, Briga will be joining her band for the first time since her adventures in Bulgaria last fall. Beware: it'll be a full on party/triple bill @ Les Bobards this Thursday, April 14th. From there Briga will be joining Geoff Berner and Rae Spoon by warming up the crowd for them in Toronto and Wakefield on April 15th and 17th. Get ready to be wowed out by these three artists .............

Bulgaria - Bulgarie

2010-12-16T23:26:00.000-08:00

WHATEVER YOU DO, MAKE SURE "YOU DO NOT LIVE IN A MOVIE!"
(VERSION FRANÇAISE CI-DESSOUS)

Here’s a few remarks Briga’s Bulgarian-Canadian friends made to her before leaving for Bulgaria:

“Good Luck in Bulgaristan!!”
“Whatever you do Briga, make sure your life doesn’t become a movie there. This is very bad.”
“Stay away from their version of Kashkaval. It isn’t real cheese… the E.U. refuses to acknowledge that something made of flour, vegetable oil, food coloring and water could be considered real Cheese.”

So off she went to study with Georgi Yanev (Bulgaria’s #1 violinist) some of the most difficult ornamental style of playing found in Balkan music. The lessons with Mr. Yanev were amazing. Seemingly a bad-ass mofo of a musician with a chip on his shoulder from afar, up close he was a kind, smiling, family guy & business man who encouraged her to work hard and beat him at his playing.
Click here to see them play together.

One day, Mr. Yanev challenged her to learn a series of songs in typical time signatures found in the Balkans, such as 7/8, 9/8/ 13/8 and 11/16. If she could learn all of them in 24 hours, and play them well enough at the next lesson, she would be able to play a Gypsy wedding in the Roma Guetto of Filipovtsi (just outside of Sofia, BG) with him and his orchestra. And so she did. On Sunday, November 28th, they played the wedding. Click here to see & hear how LOUD the wedding was.

If the lessons with Georgi Yanev were the cherry on top of a sunday, then the rest of this ice cream sunday turned out to be what her Bulgarian friends warned her against: A movie. And a bad movie at that, with brash stereotypes of Eastern European and Balkan "slavic temperaments” that are shamelessly thrown around wherever and whenever the director can’t resolve a bad script, or just needs some good ol’ shock value & laughs to keep the viewer’s attention. Mind you, there were some beautiful moments of sanity, such as the Armenian Chamber Ensemble of Sofia... The AGBU's website is definitely worth seeing, so click on it. And if you feel the need to read more about this bad movie Briga was caught in, then click here to read more.

The result?

Enough real life stories to create two albums worth of material. Briga’s adventures will be worked on with her band, then performed and recorded throughout this upcoming year of 2011. In the mean time, we wish you a wonderful Holidays, and we’ll keep you posted with more news in the New Year!

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RASSURE-TOI DE NE PAS TE RAMASSER DANS UN "MAUVAIS FILM!"

Avant de partir en Bulgarie, quelques amis(es) Québeco-Bulgares ne pouvaient s’empêcher de dire à notre chère Briga:

“Bonne chance en Bulgaristan!”
“N’importe quoi qu’il pourrait se passer, rassure-toi de ne pas te ramasser dans ‘un mauvais film’. C’est la pire chose qui pourrait t’arriver!”
“À éviter: leur version de Kashkaval. Ceci n’est pas du vrai fromage…l’Union Européen refuse de reconnaître quelque chose qui est à la base de farine, d’huile végétale, de colorant et d’eau comme étant du vrai fromage!”

Avec ces informations, elle est partie étudier avec Georgi Yanev (#1 en Bulgarie) un des styles de musique (et ornementations) le plus difficile des Balkans. Les cours avec Mr. Yavev étaient formidables. De loin, il avait l’air d’être un méchant personage qui pourrait te mordre ou bien jouer de la musique que pour la mafia... Mais de près il était très sympatique et agréable, un homme de famille et un homme d’affaires, qui encourageait Briga à travailler fort dans son jeu avec le but d'éventuellement le dépasser.
Cliquez ici pour les voir jouer ensembles.

Un jour Mr. Yanev lui lança un défi: si elle pouvait apprendre en 24 heures une série de pièces dans les tempos typiques des Balkans de 7/8, 9/8, 13/8 et 11/16 , il l’inviterai à jouer un mariage tzigane au ghetto Rom de Filipovsti (juste à l’extérieur de la ville de Sofia, BG). Briga réussi le défi, et le 28 novembre elle est allée jouer le mariage avec Georgi Yanev et son orchestre. Cliquez ici pour voir et entendre comment FORT la musique était au marriage.

Si les cours étaient l'élément le plus "normal" de son voyage en Bulgarie, le reste de son séjour s'est passé proche de tomber dans la catégorie du “mauvais film” dont ses amis(es) Bulgares lui ont averti de ne pas aborder. Et pire encore, c'était du cinéma assez cliché, ou le réalisateur nous lance des scènes de tempéraments slaves (et autres stéréotypes des Balkans et de l’Europe de l’est) pour garder l’attention du spectateur. Mais il y avait aussi de très beau moments, comme les concerts de l'Ensemble Arménien AGBU à Sofia.
Voici notre chère Briga dans une photo prise en Serbie après son voyage en Bulgarie....bien épuisé! -->
Si vous osez en lire plus au sujet du mauvais film que Briga s'est trouvé au plein centre de...cliquez ici.

Alors...Le résultat?

Suffisamment assez de matériel pour créer son prochain album. Les aventures de Briga seront racontés à travers sa musique: ses compositions et arrangements seront peaufiné avec ses musiciens, interpreté, et ensuite enregistrés live à plusieurs spectacles pendant l’année 2011. Entre temps, nous vous souhaîtons de bonnes vacances, et nous vous tiendrons au courant de spectacles dans la nouvelle année!

The Empress

2010-10-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!

Well, it's finally out: the stop animation film "The Empress" by Lyle Pisio.
A couple of years ago, Lyle Pisio heard a rough cut of Briga's song "Empress" before it even made it on her album "Diaspora", and he fell in love with the song. So much so that he started carving two figurines out of wood, one male and one female, followed by his spending 8 months in his studio going through the process of filming the two characters frame by frame until his 8:00 minute film was done.

The stop animation film went on to tour the world in 2009/2010 and get recognition worldwide: Awards

Now, The Empress has hit the internet. So go ahead, click here to watch the movie. It is truly a beautiful work of art. A big thank you to Lyle Pisio and his stunning talent!

Briga in Wonderland - Briga au Pays des Merveilles!

2010-10-11T05:57:00.001-07:00

English:It's autumn, and we wanted to share some good news with you all...along with thanking you for your continuing support!
Français: C'est l'automne, et nous aimerions partager de bonnes nouvelles avec vous, en plus de vous remercier pour tout le soutiens que vous nous avez donné jusqu'à date!

English: Briga's album Diaspora has been nominated for a 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award in the World Music-Solo category! The Gala will be taking place in Winnipeg, MB on November 20th 2010, so keep your fingers crossed that saturday evening! To know a little more about the event, click here Canadian Folk Music Awards

Français: L'album Diaspora de Briga a été nominé aux Prix de Musique Folk Canadienne 2010, dans la catégorie Musique du Monde-Solo! La soirée prendra place à Winnipeg, MB le 20 novembre 2010...alors gardez vos doigts croisés ce samedi là! Pour en savoir plus au sujet de cet évènement, veuillez cliquer sur Canadian Folk Music Awards

P.S...
English: And for those of you who haven't had the chance to hear Briga's live show recorded on CBC Radio's Concerts on Demand, just click here: CBC Radio 2 Concerts on Demand: Briga & Gitans de Sarajevo
Français: Et pour ceux entre vous qui n'ont pas encore eu la chance d'écouter le spectacle live de Briga enregistré aux ondes de Radio Canada, veuillez clicker ici: CBC Radio 2 Concerts on Demand: Briga & Gitans de Sarajevo

Casa del Popolo August 4 août

2010-07-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

Ben oui, le show de Casa del Popolo s'en vient vite et nous donnons des billets gratuits à ceux qui osent cliquer sur ce lien et aller au bas de la page: http://www.atuvu.ca/serie.php?sid=4208

MyLaSialta fera la première partie de la soirée, et nous sommes très heureux d'avoir leur énergie et son unique de la scène francophone réchauffer la salle. Vous pouvez les écouter ici: http://www.myspace.com/mylasialta

That's right, the Casa del Popolo show is in a week, and we're giving out free tickets to those who click on this site and scroll down to the bottom: http://www.atuvu.ca/serie.php?sid=4208
Mylasialta will be opening the show, and we're excited to have this band with a very unique local sound from the Francophone world join us for the evening! You can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/mylasialta

Briga now on CBC Radio 2 Concerts on Demand website

2010-06-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

Every year, Musique Multi Montreal hosts a world music extravaganza of shows and cultural workshops, held at one of the city's many "Maisons de Cultures". The 20th edition of the festival this year was held from april 13th to the 24th and Briga, along with Les Gitans de Sarajevo, had the opportunity to do a double bill together. The event, called "Bienvenue chez les Roms" showcased Montreal bands that are heavily influenced by the Balkan, eastern European, and Spanish Roma music. Les Gitans de Sarajevo opened up the evening, followed by a few songs played with guest flamenco artist Marcos Marin.

Briga came on after the intermission, and we got to play a 45 min set. It was an amazing performance and I'm glad it was recorded live by CBC radio. At the end of our set, the rest of the musicians from Les Gitans de Sarajevo joined us on stage for a killer version of Edith Piaf's "Johnny, tu n'es pas un Ange". I must admit that it is quite a feeling to be backed up by a full brass band:

The night was truly amazing, and you can hear it live on CBC Radio 2's Concerts on Demand series. Just click on http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20100424gitan to get to the listening page.

Now all shows have magical moments, and ours had a slight ridiculous twist to it at the end of the night. As we were wrapping up the show with only 1 minute left to go, all of us on stage singing "Caje Sukaria" in honour of our lovely Queen of Gypsies Esma Redzepova, a funny sound with flashing lights took over the hall. Having left the back door to the venue open so that the CBC cables could come into the building, someone had sneaked in and pulled the fire alarm. We were all evacuated from the building. But all wasn't lost, Jeremi and I decided to get the band together and play an acoustic session outside of the venue so that we wouldn't lose our crowd. Sure enough, the people stayed and we lured most of them back into the Maison de Culture, just in time to enjoy the after party with our buddies, the band OBATALA.

Here's a youtube clip of our impromptu performance. Cheers!

Briga warms up the crowd for Geoff Berner & Rae Spoon's Winter Prairie Tour 2010

2010-03-03T07:02:00.000-08:00

The Geoff Berner & Rae Spoon Winter Prairie tour took place from January 28th to February 7th. We played a smogasbord of lovely cities :Regina SK, Saskatoon SK, Brandon MB, Winnipeg MB, Kindersley SK, Medicine Hat AB, Lethbridge AB, Calgary AB, Edmonton AB. The last show of the tour was at The Artery in Edmonton, AB and was truly epic.
The audience mouthed every single word that slipped out of Geoff's mouth, and the trio was dripping from sweat on stage. The show was recorded by CBC Radio 2 "Concerts on Demand". Check out the link to hear the live show:

CBC Radio 2 Concerts on demand: Geoff Berner at The Artery

The tour was great, Geoff and Rae were kind enough to let me open up the evening. I played a few songs from the new album "Diaspora" and I was delighted to discover an all new audience. By day 3 we started getting into the swing of things and the van's touring psychology got into full swing. I was still searching for my edgy rock star character that would get me my place in the van. It wasn't helpful that I had a lousy general use of sematics and that I often got called on by Rae or Geoff for being so awkwardly politically incorrect! But after arguing with them it was in my Quebecois and Polish blood to be so dramatic and over the top, they began to warm up to me and thus at day 6-7 I metamorphosized into the label that would most get me support in that van: The hot, sexy eastern european/quebecois half breed violinist from Alberta who liked to swear like nobody's business and be purposefully "politically incorrect" all the while not insulting the current marginalized discourse of Jews, Queers, Transgendered People and other Visible Minorities. In retrospect, I was drinking a lot of whiskey and spending an average of 4 hours everyday in the van with the gang. We ate together, crashed together, breathed the collective consensus of creativity together - always with an edge - while floating down the ribbon of Highway #1 in a silver bullet minivan.

One of the big musical discoveries was the band YO MAJESTY (check them out at http://www.myspace.com/yomajesty4life ). Before every city we'd make sure to put some YO MAJESTY on. And sometimes upon entering the venue of the day, the result could be leathal...both Mr.Rae Spoon and I were at times accosted because of our ass shaking to the song "Bootie Klap". Although we didn't mean to, apparently we were suggesting to some men that we might be one of the few fuckable "females" in the night club. Eventually, we stopped our shinanigans.

At around day 10, our touring van was starting to smell bad. Yay! ;)

As a coping mechanism to displacement and identity deconstruction between days 3-7 of the tour, I found a little cactus in Winnipeg and dragged it along with us while we toured through Saskatchewan. At first, Geoff was sceptical about me bringing a plant into the van, but after my childish tantrum, "Cacti the Cactus" was assimilated into the family. But by Medicine Hat I could no longer bear the responsibility of taking care of a desert plant in such Siberian Canadian weather, and I gave it to our hostess in Medicine Hat, Ina. It was a sad parting moment because Cacti had become such an intrinsic part of our lives. From days 8 - 13 of the tour, Rae, Geoff and Wayne & I often commented about how much we missed Cacti. There were moments when I was labelled as an abandonner of small helpless plants ;)

I leave the tour stories at that, kids. We had a lot of wonderful moments on stage, and on the road.

Stay tune for our Briga R.O.C. "tour" of Ontario, coming up soon ;)

Briga hits Toronto & Kingston

2010-01-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everybody!

And what a year 2010 will turn out to be...
although still unclear as to what lurks ahead, quite a few of us feel that it will only get better; that it will be a good year!

Briga's hittin' off the winter months with a CD release in Toronto and then Kingston, Ontario. After celebrating "Diaspora"'s debut in Montreal this past November, it only makes sense to cross over into Ontario and introduce ourselves to our anglophone counterparts.

So this Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010, Briga will celebrate her Canadian release of "Diaspora" at Hugh's Room in Toronto. Show starts @ 8pm and tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. If you are interested in seeing/hearing the show, you can reserve tickets in advance by clicking here:

Hugh's Room

Then it's off to The Mansion in Kingston, Ontario, to celebrate Reading Week with Kingston's students. Briga will be sharing a double bill with The Free Whiskeys....what better way to mix some Gypsy fiddle with some bluegrass roots! The show takes place on Wednesday, February 24th, and starts at 9pm.

Hope to see y'all there!

Briga: Youtube Channel

2009-11-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

For those of you who didn't have a chance to make it out to the Montreal CD launch, we'll be releasing the album "Diaspora" in Toronto, ON on February 23rd 2010 @ Hugh's Room. Show starts at 8:30 pm.

Now...if that's a little too far ahead in the future for you, or a bit too far geographically speaking...never fear, technology is here! Check out Briga's Youtube Channel, and you'll be able to see what you missed!

2 Novembre au Cabaret Lion d'Or à Montreal

2009-10-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

Lundi, le 2 novembre 2009, la violoniste Briga fêtera le lancement de son premier album solo intitulé “Diaspora”. En plus de jouer les pieces de l’album live avec ses quatres musiciens, il y aura une première de l’animation/vidéoclip “Empress” réalisé par Lyle Pisio.

Portes ouvertes à 20h00, la soirée commençera à 20h30

$12 + frais à l'avance, $15 + frais à la porte

Billeterie Articulée: 514-844-2171 ou www.admission.com

La violoniste Briga, alias Brigitte Dajczer, vous prépare un délirant spectacle de musique métissée et jazzée, où l'improvisation est de mise et le violon tzigane est accompagné de divers influences musicales.

Entourée de Jérémi Roy à la basse, de Marton Maderspach à la batterie, d'Alix Noël à l'accordéon et au clavier ainsi que de Tacfarinas Kichou aux percussions, Briga provoquera chez vous l'envie de danser au rythme de pièces traditionnelles roumaines, hongroises, bulgares, ex-yougoslaves et tziganes.

Déjà connue sur la relève Québecoise comme membre du groupe Balkan Les Gitans de Sarajevo, protégée du violoniste tzigane Roumain Carmen Piculeata(Cirque du Soleil, Paul Kunigis, Bahtalo) et connue à travers le Canada comme étant une violoniste authentique dans son jeux et audacieuse dans ses idées et arrangements, Briga se situe au centre du carrefour musicale Montréalaise en métissant les influences francophones, anglophones et multi-ethnique de sa ville natale, à sa musique.

Briga's song: "Empress" featured in Lyle Pisio's New stop animated short film

2009-09-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Lyle PIsio, an artist from Calgary, Alberta, has just released his most recent stop animation short: Empress.

It is an honor to be part of such a beautiful creative project! You can check out the film trailer on the distribution company REELPORT's website: Reelport trailer: Empress by Lyle Pisio
as well as look up more of Lyle Pisio's video work on his website: www.lilyposie.ca

PRE-RELEASE: Briga's double CD album "Diaspora" is available online!

2009-08-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in getting a copy of Briga's new double CD album "Diaspora", check us out at CD Baby & itunes...!

Exciting? Yes ;) Daunting? Yes ;p Relieving & Stressful? All of the above!
A lot of people have come into play in realizing this dream. Many faces, chapters and encounters have been met, and I'd like to dedicate this post to all of them. So I figured I'd break it down to a few anecdotes of interesting times we've shared up until now. Here's a photo of Studio Karisma sound genius Guy Hébert & I during the Mastering of the Album. We spent a very relaxed day together, listening, going to the Polish Bakery, eating so many wonders of food, and drinking tea. Oh...did I mention that we worked hard?!

And after waiting to get the design and printing lined up...It's finaly arrived! A very narrow miss but it all worked out!
The goal was to have the CD ready to share with music lovers at a show we played last night in Ste-Geneviève, Québec. Our good friends at Standard Media Services (www.standardmedia.ca) had shipped the order out from Ottawa to Montreal on August 11th, with the goal of it arriving at my place before noon on August 12th.

As profound stupidity would have it, the order was missed and was now floating somewhere around the island of Montréal in a Purolator truck before it would be retired at the Purolator Headquarters in ANJOU @ 6:30pm. Let me remind you that the show was due to start at 7:30pm and end no later than 8:30pm. The manager, Joe Cuntrera, was facing the possibility that he just might have to drive all the way out to Anjou (about 40 minutes each way) during the show to get those CDs.

Needless to say, what happened next was a gift. On his way to come pick us up before the gig, Joe took a wrong turn and found himself face to face with a Purolator truck. He pulled over and managed to catch the guy in the truck. "Excuse-me, would you by any chance have a box of 1000 CDs that weren't deliverable?" The guy answered "YES!" They checked the name, and it was definitey our order!

So that's that! The CDs were retrieved, Joe never had to drive to Anjou and we got to La Salle Pauline Julien in time for the gig.

As for the album release, it was scheduled for October 2nd at Café Sarajevo but news has it that Café Sarajevo has just lost a court case in regards to being a live music venue. So while we search for a new venue to release the album, we will be selling CDs through CD Baby, itunes and mail order....

à+!
Briga ;)

2008-11-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

BRIGA's debut Solo Album will be released in the fall of 2009. In the mean time, feel free to listen to some tracks by double clicking on BRIGA's myspace link to the right of this page >>>>>>>>>

BRIGA is Brigitte Dajczer. A nickname given to her by band mates in Les Gitans de Sarajevo who happen to also be refugees of the Bosnian War in former Yugoslavia, BRIGA means “to worry”, or “burden”. Often it is a term of endearment when referring to your loved one as “moje briga” or “my burden”. Some of the most beautiful songs come from the sadness one expresses, or the weight of woes on one’s heart…and from all of this, the weight of a burden is lifted, and thus BRIGA is born...