Eda Zari to give concert blending jazz, polyphonic music

TIRANA, Oct. 19 – Accompanied by her band, the guitarist of British musician Sting and the orchestra of the Albanian public broadcaster RTSH, Albanian singer Eda Zari will perform on Friday, Oct 21 at a pre-release concert of her newest “Toka Incognita” album, scheduled to be released next January. In her new album, the Albanian singer who lives and works in Germany brings a real world fusion, a tasteful blend of jazz and Albanian traditional polyphonic music.
“On this record we worked hard to personalize the Albanian polyphonic music material while staying true to the spirit of jazz. Those exuberant “Iso”, the polyphonic acapella art, and south Albanian polyphonic music in particular, have constantly been my inspiration. So, I decided to create my own version of Polyphonic music and Jazz Ethnic, adding my own spirit and voice to that rich history,” says the singer on her website.
Born in Tirana, Eda Zari grew up in a musicians’ family by the surrounding of the Lela Dynasty, one of the most famous and world-renowned ensemble of traditional Albanian music ‘Famille Lela de P쳭et’. In 1994, she moved to Cologne to continue her study at the Cologne College of Music, and became an opera & theater singer.
Eda walks the fine line necessary to both genuinely carry the Iso’s tradition and bring it freshness for today. Her performance style captures the raw emotion that characterizes the genre, but with her own personal twist.
Zari is performing permanently for various film soundtracks, theatre music, ethnic-music for ballet performers and projects, industrial and cosmetic TV commercials and more. Zari has been seen at diverse classic, jazz-world, and pop music international festivals.
“In seeking to penetrate into the spirit of Albanian polyphony, I want to create music which has elements of jazz, classic, ethnic music and some flavours which we couldn`t necessarily categorize at all,” says the singer.