Eva Quartet & Hector Zazou – The Arch

The very last album by Hector Zazou: THE ARCH where music meets the world
Released on Elen Music by EVA QUARTET & HECTOR ZAZOU (produced by Dimiter Panev and Hector Zazou).

David Sylvian was invited to participate this project but finally it didn’t com together. David wrote to Hector Zazou:

“I don’t feel comfortable, or as comfortable as I anticipated, walking
in this particular landscape. I feel like a tourist rather than a resident.”

The album is beautifully packed as a digipak with 14 page foldout sleeve in a slipcase.

The Arch is one of the most outstanding recordings and biggest projects in the history of World Music, featuring more than 50 musicians from 14  different countries.

The Swan song of the French musical magician Hector Zazou is a project together with the exceptional Bulgarian voices of Eva Quartet (part of the world famous choir Le Mystere Des Voix  Bulgares) with the special participation of musicians from different genres and fields of music.

One producer of The Arch is Dimiter Panev founder and director of the Bulgarian-German label and booking agency Elen Music a 15-year-old company working with musicians from Bulgaria as well as other different countries. DimiterPanev is also known as the producer of the CD Ivo Papasov, which got the 2005 BBC Music Award.
For three years Hector Zazou and Dimiter Panev travelled together a lot, communicated with musicians from all over the world, exchanged opinions, ideas, thoughts. It was a very long, yet creative way – The Arch. They went through the sophisticated and long process of creating this unique project – all the guest musicians were recorded in several studio sessions and many more improvised recordings on three continents.

The list of guests is quite long, featuring musicians from jazz, folk, world music, fusion, electronic and avant-garde etc. Among the outstanding musicians there are the queen of experimental music Laurie Anderson (USA), Ryuichi Sakamoto (Japan), one of the most interesting piano players and composers of our time, the avantgarde rock guitar player Robert Fripp (UK), founder of the cult rock band King Crimson, the R.E.M. ex-drummer Bill Rieflin (USA). Moreover,  several creative jazz musicians like Bill Frisell (USA), Nils Petter Molvr (Norway) and Zoltan Lantos (Hungary) took part in The Arch. Some of the biggest folk and world music musicians Djiavan Gasparian (Armenia), Carlos Nunez (Spain) and Bollywood String Orchestra (India), Indian singer Kaushiki Charkaborty and the masterly Algerian oud player Mehdi Haddab (The Speed Caravan) are part of this incredible project.

Of course, there are also many guests from Bulgaria the contemporary composer and brilliant pianist Antoni Donchev, the male voices of Dvuglas Milen Ivanov and Daniel Spasov, Sofia String Quartet, the creative project Diva Reka featuring the masterly kaval player Kostadin Genchev and tambura player Dimiter Hristov and many more.
The Arch is mixed and mastered by Peter Walsh a sound engineer who has worked together with many musicians from the Spandau Ballet and Stevie Wonder to Peter Gabriel and Pulp.

The Arch is the methaphorical place where ancient traditions and magical voices meet contemporary feelings, amazing talent, masterly techniques, fame and pure creative spirit in order to create music that connects the best of music. Hector Zazous spirit has come alive again.

Tracklist

1. Lazaritsa
2. Razvivay, Dobro
3. Balno li ti e, sino ljo
4. Gospodi, Pomiluy
5. Planinsko
6. Pladne doyde
7. Dostoino Est
8. Yana
9. Snoshti si, mamo, zamraknakh
10. Minka
11. The Arch
12. Kadna

The Arch on Elen Music featuring:

Laurie Anderson (USA); Sofia String Quartet (Bulgaria); Bollywood String Orchestra (India); Roberto Cechetto (Italy); Cecilia Chailly (Italy); Kaushiki Charkaborty (India); David Coulter (UK); Diego Amador (Spain); Diva Reka Band (Bulgaria); Antoni Donchev (Bulgaria); Robert Fripp (UK); Bill Frisell (USA); Djiavan Gasparian (Armenia); Andrea Guzzoletti (Italy); Mehdi Haddab (Algeria); Dimiter Hristov (Bulgaria); Kostadin Kostadinov (Bulgaria); Radosvet Kukudov (Bulgaria); Zoltan Lantos (Hungary); Nils Petter Molvr (Norway); Carlos Nunez (Spain); Dobri Paliev (Bulgaria); Stoyan Pavlov (Bulgaria); Violeta Petkova (Bulgaria); Renaud Pion (France); Minna Raskinen (Finland); Bill Rieflin (USA); Ryuichi Sakamoto (Japan); Stefano Saletti (Italy); Daniel Spassov (Bulgaria); Janne Strmstedt (Sweden) etc.