Kim Sanders – You Can’t Get There From Here

Kim Sanders and friends’ Aria-nominated CD “You can’t get there from here” showcases traditional pieces from the Balkans and Middle-East and original pieces including “Hepimiz Deliyiz,” first performed at the Ataturk Cultural Centre with the Istanbul State Modern Folk Music Ensemble, 2001. Demented Gypsy-style collective improvisation, Indo-Turkish grooves and more…

1. Segah Taksim 2. Hepimiz Deliyiz 3. Kabadayi 4. Aksaray 5. Meseler Guvermis 6. Sar Planina 7. Segah Saz Semai 8. Cengelkoy 9. Gnome Chomsky’s Deep Focus Boogie Woogie 10. Giorgi’s Pravo 11. Blues for the Balkans 12. A Brief Meditation on Duduk

CD REVIEW – by Jane Harding

You Can’t Get There From Here has been around as a recording for some years, having received an Aria nomination for Best World Music CD back in 2003.

It features a selection of the traditional and contemporary music of Turkey, Macedonia and Bulgaria, plus some of Sander’s original compositions.
Kim Sanders himself has been around a bit too.

He’s an Australian world music veteran, heavily influenced by Turkish Sufi, Balkan, West African and Middle Eastern musical traditions.

Having travelled widely in Eastern Europe, and had some interesting adventures in the process (check out his bio at www.kimsandersworldmusic.com), he’s honed his passion for the rich musical heritage of this part of the world and become a master of its blown instruments – gaida, ney and kaval just to name a few.

He’s also the developer of the Aardvark, an Australian/Bulgarian/Turkish bass bagpipe, which makes its debut on this recording in a piece entitled Aksaray, written by Sanders.
I live in hope that one day I will be able to hear this style of music and make sense of the weird rhythms.

Sorry, guys, I’m not there yet, but ironically it was the percussion gave me an entrée into this recording.

Brilliant tabla playing from Bobby Singh, earthy rich djembe from Episo Bangoura and Peter Kennard’s crisp darabukka are a real joy to the ears and provide a firm anchor in the shifting sands of Turkish and Bulgarian gaida (bagpipes), various flutes and other pipes, lutes and tenor saxophone that threaten to overwhelm the unwary listener.

In You Can’t Get There From Here , Kim Sanders dishes up an exotic musical smorgasbord that might be a bit rich and strange for some, yet prove to be a sensual audio delight for others.

About the artist: One time cane-cutter, meatworks labourer and documentary film researcher, Kim Sanders has played with Gypsy brass bands in Macedonia, studied with Sufi ney-masters in Turkey, performed on national radio in Bulgaria and national TV in Indonesia, in mosquito-ridden clubs in Gambia, tavernas in Greece and in concert-halls from the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Istanbul to the Jintai Museum in Beijing. Hear the soaring lines of the Dervish ney flute, the rich buzz of the duduk, the crazed rhythms of the Bulgarian bagpipe…and the unforgettable wail of the aardvark.
You can’t get there from here ‘s musicians are:
Kim Sanders Sabahhattin Akdagcik Steve Elphick Peter Kennard Tarlochan (Bobby) Singh Epizo Bangoura
Producer: Tony Gorman