She'Koyokh, Klezmer Ensmeble – Sandanski's Chicken / ARC Music Audio CD 2008 / EUCD 2122

UPC 5019396212220 / 743037212229

Total Playtime 75:40

• Çigdem Aslan: Vocals
• Susi Evans: Clarinet, Gaida
• Meg Hamilton: Violin
• Zivorad Nikolic: Accordion, Vocals
• Matt Bacon: Guitars, Kaval, Saxophone
• Paul Moylan: Double Bass
• Christina Borgenstierna: Percussion

She’Koyokh has toured the world with highlights at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and festivals in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Cyprus, Spain, the Canary Islands and Norway; WOMAD, Sziget and Pannonica Festivals; Fundación Juan March Madrid, London’s Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre, Aldeburgh’s Snape Proms and live sessions on BBC Radio.

Four globally acclaimed albums have earned She’Koyokh their reputation as “one of London’s musical treasures playing the best klezmer and Balkan music in Britain” (The Evening Standard).
First Dance on Second Avenue was released in 2017 on World Music Network’s Riverboat Records to critical acclaim, receiving a 5* review in the Evening Standard, 5* and Album Choice in fROOTS, 4* in the Guardian, 4* and Top of the World in Songlines and 4* in BBC Music Magazine.
She’Koyokh’s previous albums are Wild Goats and Unmarried Women (2014 Riverboat), Buskers’ Ballroom (2011 ARC) and Sandanski’s Chicken (2007 ARC).

She’Koyokh’s line-up is as diverse and excellent as their music making. Their members hail from Turkey, Serbia, Spain and the UK, all with various backgrounds. Three members are graduates from London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Music, two are esteemed jazz musicians, accordionist Zivorad Nikolic is one of the finest players of Serbian traditional music there is, their singer, Çigdem Aslan, is a celebrity in the world of rembetiko music and Susi Evans is “one of the best klezmer clarinettists of our day” (Songlines). All seven of them are virtuoso musicians, each with twenty years absorbing and performing the rich folk music traditions of Jewish Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Balkans.

The band formed in 2001 with the support of a Millennium Award from the Jewish Music Institute. In 2008 they were awarded first prize in the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam and have been shortlisted twice for Best Group in the Songlines World Music Awards. She’Koyokh has collaborated with the Aurora Orchestra and with South Indian violinist Jyotsna Srikanth.
In February 2019 their bass player Paul Moylan composed Klez’Mahler, a prelude to Mahler’s First Symphony which was performed by She’Koyokh as soloists with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
The band performed their Wigmore Hall debut in Feb 2023 which was sold to capacity and described by resident chamber orchestra the Nash Ensemble as ‘wonderful’ and ‘moving’.

She’Koyokh is a Yiddish word meaning “nice one!”

Tracklist:

Their name is a Yiddish word meaning “nice one!” and they’ve been hailed as “one of the finest and most entertaining British-based exponents of global music” (The Guardian).  She’Koyokh have spent over twenty years absorbing the rich folk music traditions of Jewish Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Balkans. A live force to be reckoned with, they’re a wild swirl of clarinet, violin, jazzy guitar licks, accordion and dance-inducing percussion, plus the sweet and passionate voice of Çigdem Aslan. “What makes She’Koyokh stand out? It’s that most simple and obvious of things: they’re just all very, very, good musicians.” (fROOTS).

A nice note from klezmer clarinet legend, David Krakauer:
“Big fun Friday night sitting in for one tune at the Jamboree in London with the absolutely amazing UK based band She’Koyokh. They have produced an astonishingly organic and seamless synthesis of klezmer and Balkan styles that is a joy to listen to!! Many thanks for a beautiful evening!!”
David Krakauer, London 2023.