ONE by Don't be a stranger

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Serious ambition and pure talent melt into one on "ONE", an exotic and thoroughly absorbing collaboration between Netherlands composer Onno Krijn and top-flight vocalists and musicians from Africa, India, Iraq, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the United States. ...Krijn takes world music to its most literal definition, crafting a wildly imaginative yet cohesive blend of global sounds and rhythms. ...

This is world music that will feed your heart as well as your head.

(Michael Sutton on www.allaboutjazz.com)

" The result is astounding. How can all this diversity sound so natural? Krijn shows us how small the world really is. Distances are nonexistent here.." (Dagblad Tubantia)

" The silence between these subtle and well thought-out chords gives me the shivers." (Het Parool)

" Composer/producer Onno Krijn unifies the world in a studio....the astounding craftmanship with which Krijn blends it all...I just cannot stop listening to this cd" (Dick Laning on www.folkforum.nl)

" Krijns' mastery of bridging various music-styles and cultures is amazing... Don't be a stranger/ONE is both an ear-opening trip around the world as well as a captivating world-record.." (Stan Rijven in Trouw)

"The result is a mesmerizing multi-layered album (....) "Let the music speak for itself" is a hackneyed phrase. But every so often an album comes along to remind us that there is a truth behind it. Few do so as eloquently as ONE." ( Bram Posthumus in SONGLINES magazine)

Who am I ?

I am an independant composer/producer/orchestrator. I earn a living writing arrangements and orchestrations for large ensembles and producing records at my studio. I also work as a musical director for my wife,- she's a folk-singer- during her theatre tour which we do three or four months every year, or during one of the big multi-cultural events she produces. I received classical training in composition and piano at the Amsterdam Conservatory and studied arranging at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Worldmusic has always had a big influence on all my work.

Who are the worldmusicians?

Well, as for the ONE album, they mainly live in Holland and Belgium and come from Senegal, India, Tibet, Ethiopia, Iraq, Indonesia, Scotland,the United States and the Netherlands.

The most famous one is Farida, from Iraq. Together with her brother, Jamil al Asadi on Canun she did a heart-gripping improvisation, - maqam-style-, about Bagdad in all its present misery. I structured and orchestrated this improvisation. The result is a heart-wrenching track. (track 4, "Bagdad").

Another big name is Droeh Nankoe, a singer from India, who has been living in Holland for quite some time now, and whom I met when I was the musical director for this big multi-cultural musical theatre-show entitled "Made in Holland, a tribute to diversity", where I met a lot of the musicians who feature on ONE. When I was recording with Droeh he happened to have two distinguished musician-friends staying at his house: Raffiuddin Sabri, a gifted tabla player, who also does some incredible mouthpercussion, and Annada Prassana Pattanaik playing bansuri. Of course he brought them to my studio and the two of them feature with Droeh in khayal-style on track 3: "Calcutta Candy", (which, by the way is my favourite track of the whole album.)

If you're into African music , there's lots of it on ONE: the vocal contributions of Omar Ka from Senegal and Minyeshu from Ethiopia, and the features of Bao Sissok on Kora, Serigne Gueye on percussions and Bniyam Kindeya on Krar. Minyeshu blends in wonderfully with the American Steel Guitar of American singer/songwriter Thad Beckman.

For somewhat more meditative material you can listen to the vocals of Namgyal Lhamo from Tibet combined with a beautiful oboe-solo played by oboist Bart Schneeman, first oboist from the world-famous Concertgebouworkest. (track 1: "Changkha".) Or the beautiful Love song which I composed on a poem by the great Irish poet W.B.Yeats, sung in a Celtic style by Leoni Jansen. (track 6: "Love song").

There is a terrific 5 minute long Coltrane- like Tenor-solo by Ben van de Dungen on a bed of pulsating African rhythm (track 9:"Wo Mbari"), and the very last track focuses inward again, a duet between me and Omar Ka with once again beautiful Kora-accompaniment of Bao Sissok. (track 10, "Circle round a fire"). Great lyrics (very serious) by Nancy White, Canada's comedienne nr.1.

It took me almost three years to finish ONE, mainly because I could never work on it full time. However, after three years, I find the first song I wrote for ONE, (track 5:"Daan'de Cheelii" , with Omar Ka) just as compelling as when I started out three years ago, which I take to be a good sign.

If I had to describe the style of the whole album, I'd say you can compare it to the "One giant leap" album, or some of the albums Michael Brook did on the RealWorld label with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan or David Gasparyan. It's definitely cross-over, world fusion.

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