I had a fascinating chat the other day with Manu Delago, composer, percussionist and champion in chief of an astonishing newish instrument that looks like a cross between a UFO and a wok. It's called the hang - and he's got the hang of it so well that Bjork became a fan and invited him to tour with her. He's performing soon at LSO St Luke's, with a new Concertino Grosso of his own. Here's the short interview from yesterday's Independent, and below is an example so beguiling that it's had more than 3m Youtube hits.
2 comments:
Very cool! Manu is definitely blazing the trail.
I may be one of the rare exceptions though, as the Hang player who first made me want to start playing, was Rafael Sotomayor: http://www.hangdrumsandhandpans.com/2012/01/rafael-sotomayor-theartoffusion.html
I love this guys sound.
I'm an avid reader of the JDCMB blog, and have also been a fan of the hang ever since hearing one played for the first time on the streets of Barcelona. It was a lovely surprise to see these two enthusiasms come together in this post (and JD's article about Manu Delago in The Independent). For anyone interested, another great pioneer and Maestro of this extraordinary new instrument is Ravid Goldschmidt, based in Barcelona, who has combined the magical 'ufo' with organ, flamenco, fado, etc, creating some memorable, haunting fusions along the way. He is playing Symphony Hall Birmingham next month with singer Sylvia Perez Cruz. FYI http://ravidhang.com/
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