Re: Ensemble Tereza, Jewish "Mountain Music"

[Beth Wellington <dancing_bethw...>]

Here's some information on Ensemble Tereza.  Try the
site http://www.ctmd.org/ for more information.  The
following contact may be of use:

James R. Schlefer
Director of Presenting Programs
Center for Traditional Music and Dance
200 Church Street, room 303
New York, NY 10013-3831
212-571-1555 ext. 23
212-571-9052 fax
jschlefer (at) ctmd(dot)org


Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990,
many Mountain Jews from the Eastern Caucasus
(particularly Azerbaijan and Dagestan) have emigrated,
approximately 4,000 of them to Brooklyn, New York.
Ensemble Tereza features traditional south Caucasian
instruments like the tar (lute), daf (tambourine),
various drums, and garmon (diatonic accordion), as
well as more modern instruments like the clarinet,
keyboard/synthesizer, and electric bass. As is typical
of her multiethnic milieu, Tereza Elizarova sings in a
variety of languages including Djuhuri, Azeri,
Turkish, Persian, Hebrew, and Arabic. The ensemble
includes Tereza (vocals and accordion); her nephew,
Ruslan Agababayev (keyboard, garmon); her two
brothers, Robson Yefraimov (guitar) and Mark Elizarov
(percussion); and Alex Hafizov (clarinet). Dance
instruction is provided by a member of the Elizarov
family.

The Elizarov and Yefraimov families are from a long
line of musicians in Baku, Azerbaijan. When Tereza
sings at weddings in New York, the bridal family
frequently knows her family and its musical reputation
from Azerbaijan. Her father (accordionist Khanuko
Elizarov) may have performed at the wedding of the
parents of the bride or groom, and her grandmother,
also an accordionist, at the wedding of the
grandparents.



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