Bulgaria - Bulgarie

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!