Yat-kha

Yat-kha biography

Yat-Kha, (a.k.a. Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha, Russian: Ят-Ха) was founded in Moscow in 1991, as a collaborative project between Albert Kuvezin (russian: Альберт Кувезин, formerly of Huun-Huur-Tu) and Russian avant-garde, electronic composer Ivan Sokolovsky. The project blended traditional Tuvan folk music with post-modern rhythms and electronic effects. Kuvezin and Sokolovsky toured and played festivals, and eventually took the name “Yat-Kha,” which refers to a type of small, Central Asian zither similar to a Chinese Guzheng that Kuvezin plays in addition to the guitar. In 1993, they released a self-titled album on the General Records label. After the release of Yat-Kha, Kuvezin and Sokolovsky parted creative ways and Kuvezin went on to release five other albums under the name Yat-Kha with other musicians (and less of an emphasis on electronics), beginning with Yenisei Punk in 1995, with morin khuur player Alexei Saaia (produced by Lu Edmonds). Sokolovsky issued a remastered version of the Yat-Kha album, with additional tracks, under the title Tundra's Ghosts in 1996/97. Since 2001, they have been performing a live soundtrack to Vsevolod Pudovkin's 1928 silent film Storm over Asia. They may release a DVD of this version of the film with Reality Film. In 2005 the band released the album "Re-covers", featuring covers of tracks by Joy Division, Captain Beefheart, Motorhead, Santana, Kraftwerk and Hank Williams.