DJ Vasile, real name Lucian Stan, without exaggeration can be considered one of the veteran artists who founded electro music in Romania. He is one of the first people to open FM radio in Romanian, right after the fall of the communist regime in December 1989. Engaged in several projects over time, DJ Vasile was part of Matze in 1992 with Cristi Stanciu, and three years later founded the band Şuie Paparude alongside Mihai Câmpineanu (Michi) and Mihai Dobre (currently DJ Haute Culture). He has founded Natural Soft Killers (NSK) project in 1997 with Cristi Stanciu and Cristian Ştefănescu (Electric Brother).

In 2000, DJ Vasile got involved in a project that generates a lot of controversy, Shukar Collective. Among this band’s members (band who was present at the first edition of PLAI Festrival) are Dan Handrabur a.k.a. Dreamdoktor, Cristi Stanciu a.k.a. Matze, Mitoş Micleuşanu a.k.a. Diafragma, Vlaicu Golcea, Marius Mateşan and three singers and percussionists of Roma origin (Tamango, Napoleon, Clasic).

DJ Vasile, with his shows, won the Romanian public but also the respect of great artists in the business worldwide.

Now, at this fifth edition of PLAI Festival, DJ Vasile will open the evenings of Friday and Saturday with his mixes of world music.

DJ Vasile, real name Lucian Stan, without exaggeration can be considered one of the veteran artists who founded electro music in Romania. He is one of the first people to open FM radio in Romanian, right after the fall of the communist regime in December 1989. Engaged in several projects over time, DJ Vasile was part of Matze in 1992 with Cristi Stanciu, and three years later founded the band Şuie Paparude alongside Mihai Câmpineanu (Michi) and Mihai Dobre (currently DJ Haute Culture). He has founded Natural Soft Killers (NSK) project in 1997 with Cristi Stanciu and Cristian Ştefănescu (Electric Brother).

In 2000, DJ Vasile got involved in a project that generates a lot of controversy, Shukar Collective. Among this band’s members (band who was present at the first edition of PLAI Festrival) are Dan Handrabur a.k.a. Dreamdoktor, Cristi Stanciu a.k.a. Matze, Mitoş Micleuşanu a.k.a. Diafragma, Vlaicu Golcea, Marius Mateşan and three singers and percussionists of Roma origin (Tamango, Napoleon, Clasic).

DJ Vasile, with his shows, won the Romanian public but also the respect of great artists in the business worldwide.

Now, at this fifth edition of PLAI Festival, DJ Vasile will open the evenings of Friday and Saturday with his mixes of world music.

More traditional than Mariza, Mísia is considered one of the best voices in fado history, a worthy descendant of Amalia Rodriguez. A pioneer, a free spirit – Mísia is more than a simple interpreter. Mísia is the leading Portuguese tradition forward, being a true ambassador of music, recognized worldwide, standing testimony to this are all orders, awards, medals and prizes she won.

Mísia’s life was shaped by musical, geographical and poetic journeys – a necessity for an artist who grew up in nonconformity and exuberance under the influence of two cultures: the father (quiet Portuguese bourgeois culture) and the mother and grandmother (Spanish art world). She spent her childhood in Porto, her birthplace. She sang fado for the first time there, for workers who came to Casas de Fado. She then moved on to Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and the final stop – Lisbon.

When she arrived in Lisbon, she began to discover other people’s hostility towards fado; hostility that began with the fall of Salazar’s dictatorship. Fado was used by the authorities as a tool for propaganda, repression and mental manipulation of the population. Aside from some great poems, songs spoke only about the ethos of the Portuguese people – obedient, poor, lacking ambition, but pleased. Therefore, Mísia was faced with a great test. She began to explore fado, to make an inventory of songs, looking for traditional fado songs and contacting poets to ask them to write new lyrics. She brought the violin and accordion back, traditional for fado music she used to hear ont the streets in her childhood, but with piano accompaniment from the aristocratic salons of the nineteenth century. Mísia is the one that, with huge effort, managed to wholly reconstruct fado aesthetically, both as substance and shape.

From the outset, Mísia had enemies. The left wing accused her of focusing on the conservative side of the genre, while the traditionalists disapproved of her message and image, as well as of her collaboration with poets known for their political involvement. Despite these attitudes, Mísia has persevered and wass dedicated to her vision. Without much though, going over all the critiques and risking isolation, Mísia opened new horizons in fado, being a pioneer of the genre.

Early successes that she acknowledged beyond borders: in Spain and Japan, then in France and Germany. Later, she started to become known throughout the world, developing an extensive international career. In 1993 she became the second artist, after Amalia Rodriguez, who took fado to some of the world’s biggest stages and even in places where fado was never heard before.
Since her first solo album, public response was enthusiastic to the unparalleled creativity of Portuguese music. Her projects have received worldwide recognition and sales went up. Mísia received award after award. Her second album, “Mísia Fado”, was released in Japan, South Korea and Spain. “Tanto menos, tanto mais” was awarded the Académie Charles Cros prize. “Garras dos Sentidos” was sold in 250,000 copies. For the first time, accordion, violin and piano were heard together in fado songs. “Ritual”, a tribute to artists from Casas de Fado, covered a repertoire of folklore songs. After the release of the album, Mísia brought fado for the first time, one the legendary stage from Papal Palace in Avignon Festival. Later, the album “Canto” marked a distance from fado, based on instrumental music of Portuguese guitarist and writer Carlos Paredes. A string quintet completed the album, which won the Critics’ prize in Germany. “Drama Box” was really an album full of passion, including tango, bolero and fado, Mísia having Fanny Ardant, Miranda Richardson, Ute Lemper, Carmen Maura and Maria de Medeiros as guests.
She was awarded, over time, with Portugal’s Order of Merit Medal, the Great Red Medal of Paris, the French Order of Arts and Letters Award, the German Musical Critics Award, International Festival of Artistic and Educational Film, Grand Prize of the Charles Cros Academy and many more.

This is, in short, Mísia. She will come to Timişoara to sing her soul out on our stage at PLAI, Saturday, September 11, 2010. This concert won’t be only for the connoisseurs because Mísia’s music addresses everyone.

Mísia’s performance at PLAI Festival Timişoara will also represent her latest album’s launch in Romania for the double album “Ruas”. It is a complex double album, where the “ruas”(street) are presented to us: life’s streets; the roads of sadness, of love, of absence; the roads of all roads, roads of fate; fado roads – streets that we all struggle on until our last breath. Streets – these places of crossing, meeting and parting, on which we are passing daily trying to live our lives.

www.misia-online.com
www.myspace.com/misiaonline

ARA DINKJIAN is best known as founder and leader of the influential instrumental group NIGHT ARK, a jazz band that has broken many barriers in the years 1980 to 1990, by merging with the roots of Anatolian music. His compositions have been recorded by top musicians, including Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Sezen Aksu and Demis Roussos, in 13 different languages, proving that, music is a universal language after all. With one of his hits, “Homecoming” (better known worldwide as “Dinata Dinata”), he was chosen to end the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens.

Who is ARA DINKJIAN though? In Armenian Արա Տինքճեան, ARA DINKJIAN is an Armenian-American musician, considered one of the best oud performer in the world. Born in New Jersey in 1958, he debuted when he was only five, at the New York City World’s Fair, playing the doumbag. He joined his father’s group, Onnik Dinkjian, a renowned Armenian musician that plays folk and religious music. His undeniable value earned him a scholarship at the prestigious Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut, where he studied numerous traditional instruments. In 1980 he graduated from college, being the only musician with a special degree in interpreting the oud – the instrument that would make him known around the world.

In 1986 he founded the group Night Ark, after RCA producer Steve Backer heard a demo of an original composition Dinkjian made. The result: a contract to make a record – “Picture” – released that same year.

In 2002, Ara Dinkjian was chosen to represent Armenia at the First International Oud Meeting in Thessaloniki. After that came an invitation to the International Oud Festival in Jerusalem in 2005, and at the Oud Festival in 2008, where he recorded an exceptional album, “Peace on Earth” with Sokratis Sinopoulos – lyra (Greek), Tamer Pinarbasi – kanun (Turkish), Rimmon Haddad – Bass (Palestine) and Zohar Fresco – percussion (Israel).

Throughout his career, Ara Dinkjian has continuously developed his style, combining his western and eastern roots. This is how he came to play what he performs today, a very unique style, with a strong trademark of beautiful tones.

After Misia, Trilok Gurtu and Christoph Pepe Auer, ARA DINKJIAN is the fourth big name for the worldmusic stage that has confirmed his performance at this year’s PLAI Festival. He will get on stage with his oud on Saturday, September 11, 2010, with Sokratis Sinopoulos – Politiki lyra, Vangelis Karipis – percussion and Nikos Kalatzakos – keyboards, piano.

www.aradinkjian.com
www.myspace.com/aradinkjian

“We make bridges, not barriers. This is what the world requires”, says Trilok Gurtu – a name already known in Timişoara. Six years ago, he filled to the brim the Concert Hall at Ion Vidu High School, and the same thing happened thereafter at the Palace Hall in Bucharest.

In the early 70′s, a young Indian was waiting for the reply of the famous Berkeley Academy of Music in America. “Rejected” called the verdict – one that only managed to convince the artist that America wasn’t good enough for him. He came to Europe, and started an impressive story here: “I wanted with all my heart to get to play like a true American percussionist, but God has arranged things so that I only play like Trilok Gurtu. Not to resemble anybody else”, says our Indian.

World-class percussionist, Trilok Gurtu has attracted numerous musicians who wanted to work with him over the years: John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Jan Garbarek, Don Cherry, Bill Evans, Pharoah Sanders, Dave Holland, Neneh Cherry, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Pat Metheny, Gilberto Gil, David Gilmour. These are just a few of those who were bewitched by the burning sense of the rhythm that Trilok posesses.

Deeply rooted in Indian tradition, Trilok Gurtu manages to create rhythms that make tens of thousands of people worldwide stand up. Appointed for five years the best percussionist in the world, this Indian has an impressive C.V.: appearances on 126 albums, 54 compilations, five DVDs and his music is given as an example in two books on percussion performance . His solo albums have shocked and fascinated at the same time. Trilok Gurtu managed to bring into spotlight India’s musical breath, to stirr sensation in Western music and combine everything with flamenco, African, Brazilian or Chinese rhythms.

www.trilokgurtu.net
www.myspace.com/trilokgurtu

Christoph Pepe Auer returns to PLAI, along with his group, having beside him as special guest a great musician, Manu Delago. Christoph Pepe Auer, now at age 29, has managed to build a name for himself in Vienna and all around. Last year, at PLAI, he was one of the most appreciated artists for their performance (you surely remember the exceptional jazz interpretation of the Nirvana song “Smells Like Teen Spirit”? – If not, you can see it here or here.

Christoph Pepe Auer was born in 1981 in Tirol, Austria. He studied music from the age of 5. In 2001 he started attending the Music University in Graz to study saxophon-jazz. His teachers, during this time, were Florian Bramböck, Karl-Heinz Miklin, Heinrich von Kalnein and Klaus Dickbauer. He got his Bachelor of Arts in 2005 and now, Christoph is a Vienna-based saxophone player. He also got lessons from Dick Oatts, George Garzone, Donny McCaslin, Branford Marsalis, David Binney, Tony Malaby, Marcus Strickland, Jason Lindner and more. He performed with the musicians Adam Holzman (keyboard, Miles Davis Band), Joseph Bowie, David Murray as well as the Concert Jazz Orchestra Vienna. In 2005 he was sent as a representative of the University of Graz to the I.A.S.J. meeting directed by David Liebman. This influenced him to work more intensely on composition. In 2005 he received The Hans Koller Prize, which gave him the opportunity to travel to New York. There he took lessons from Tony Malaby, Donny McCaslin, Marcus Strickland and Branford Marsalis.

He is involved in numerous projects, some of which are „Living Room“, „The New York Sessions“, „Matthias Löscher Quartet“, „Stefan Heckel’s Dawn Chorus“, „Auer-Tiefenbacher-Kostron-Rainer/Smurfs Revenge“, „The Ringtones“ or „Phoen“. In all these projects, Christoph Pepe Auer shows his virtuosity at saxophone alto, soprano and tenor, clarinet, bassclarinet, flute and pepephon.
At PLAI he (re)brings his own project – „Christoph Pepe Auer Group“, a project based on his compositions, which were inspired by Wayne Shorter, Kenny Wheeler, Jimmy Merritt and Ornette Coleman. The Group gets inspiration from anything, and any experience is transformed in a musical experience, any information acumulated by the five members is put into music in really ingenious ways. Alongside Christoph Pepe Auer we also met Manu Delago (hang, fx), Martin Reiter (piano), Matthias Pichler (bass) and Peter Kronreif (drums). Their music has crossed physical boundaries, since the cvartet was invited to sing in Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Kosovo, Polland, Germany, Jerusalem, Ciprus, Slovakia, Italy, New York, Sweden, Irland, Bulgaria, England and Scotland.

“PLAI 2009 was a great revelation for Christoph Pepe Auer Group. We came here without knowing what the festival was about – but when we saw the place where it happens, the main stage and the other areas of interest, we were impressed by the multitude of ideas and creative solutions that the organizers found. Besides, we got to tie personal bonds with many PLAI team members, since their openness and strong desire to create something really special is easy to see. It is wonderful to see so many young people who share this spirit and organize a festival together. We, as young musicians, feel very connected with the idea of building something unique together and giving this something to everyone else. Finally, the audience at PLAI is great and we are very happy that we were appreciated so much last year, and hope to repeat that this year as well.”

Resurse web:
www.christophauer.at
www.myspace.com/christophpepeauer