Discography
KAPUSTNIK RECORDS RELEASES
Kapustnik Records is Ljova’s record label. To date, we have released four albums, and you can hear them on this page for free.
Buying the music via Bandcamp gives you the best price ($2 for instant download; $7.49 per physical CD), the highest fidelity, and supports the label much more than other outlets. Thank you!
MELTING RIVER is a collection of music that was commissioned by choreographer Aszure Barton for “Project XII”, conceived and developed at The Banff Centre, in Alberta, Canada. Ljova recorded almost all of the music in The Banff Centre’s Hut #2, over the course of several months, alongside watching rehearsals and preparations. A very dark, intimate album, featuring viola and fadolin. Ljova says it is his most personal album. Download it instantly at Bandcamp.
LOST IN KINO is Ljova’s latest album, focusing on his recent film works. The album’s 24 tracks feature a wide range of textures and emotional states, from collaborations with the Gypsy band Romashka, the alt-indie-folk Tall Tall Trees, to cameos from the Hungarian cymbalom virtuoso Kálmán Balogh (playing a cue from Francis Ford Coppola’s film “Youth Without Youth”), pipa player Wu Man, among many others, and of course featuring Ljova himself on viola, famiola and fiddle. Get your copy of “Lost in Kino” today at Bandcamp, or order it on Amazon.com
MNEMOSYNE is a debut release by Ljova’s ensemble Ljova and the Kontraband, a group dedicated to original music that washes away distinguishing lines between chamber music, jazz, contemporary global folk music. Mnemosyne is the Greek name for the goddess of memory, and in a way, this is a tribute to our collective experience. In the past few decades, there have been massive revivals in almost every genre and region of music. While a major part of these revivals has been to rediscover the proverbial “Golden Era”, we’ve concentrated on trying to take these directions further, freeing our musical influences from their historical characteristics and context. Get your copy of “Mnemosyne” today at Bandcamp, or order it on Amazon.com
VJOLA: WORLD ON FOUR STRINGS — Ljova’s debut solo album. This album is a travelogue of sorts, though most journeys didn’t take me much further than the Island of Manhattan. It is a dedication to the ever-changing neighborhoods of New York City, its diverse cultures, and of course its illustrious musicians, from whom I draw much of my inspiration. Everything you hear on this album (with the exception of Michael Ward-Bergeman’s accordion on “Garmoshka”, and the synth bass on “Breadbasket Blues”) was recorded by myself on a viola. Each instrumental part was recorded separately, one after the other, and most arrangements were improvised from rough sketches. The choice of using viola as a multi-track instrument was as much artistic as it was a matter of convenience, “ the ensemble was cheap, hungry for a new sound, and very much of a similar mind.” Get your copy of “Vjola: World on Four Strings” today at Bandcamp, or order it on on Amazon.com
OTHER RELEASES
as composer:
2013 – Brooklyn Rider: “A Walking Fire” (Mercury Classics) – includes “Culai” and “Budget Bulgar”
2012 – Spark: “Folk Tunes” (Deutsche Grammophon) – includes “Budget Bulgar” and “Old Lautar”
2011 – Tim Fain and Pei-Yao Wang: “River of Light” (Naxos) – includes “Sicilienne”
2011 – Julia Kogan: “Troika” (Rideau Rouge Records) – includes “The Rain has Flown”
2011 – Keve Wilson: “Pure Imagination” (Composers Concordance Recordings / Naxos) – includes “Plume”
2010 – Spark: “Downtown Illusions” (ARS Produktion) – includes “Tango Heavy”
2009 – The Knights & Jan Vogler: “Experience: Live from New York” (Sony Classical) – includes “Garmoshka”
2008 – Brooklyn Rider: “Passport” (In a Circle Records) — includes “Plume” and “Crosstown”
2003 – Soheil Nasseri: “Soheil Nasseri plays Yedidia, Zhurbin & Zyman” (21st Century Classical) – includes “Sicilienne”
as arranger:
2011 – Alondra de la Parra, Natalia Lafourcade, Ely Guerra Denise Gutiérrez: “Travieso Carmesí” (Sony Classical) — all arrangements
2010 – Alondra de la Parra: “Mi Alma Mexicana” (Sony Classical) – arrangement of “Sobre las Olas”
2009 – Osvaldo Golijov: “Tetro” (Sony Classical) – arrangements
2009 – The Knights and Jan Vogler: “Experience: Live from New York” (Sony Classical) – all arrangements, except Hendrix
2009 – Kronos Quartet: “Floodplain” (Nonesuch) – arrangement of “Oh Mother, the Handsome Man Tortures Me”
2008 – Brooklyn Rider and Kayhan Kalhor: “Silent City” (World Village) – arrangements of “Silent City” and “Parvaz”
2008 – Jan Vogler and friends: “Tango” (Sony Classical) – arrangement of “Libertango” by Astor Piazzolla
2009 – Osvaldo Golijov: “Youth Without Youth” (Sony Classical) – arrangements
2007 – Yo-Yo Ma & Silk Road Ensemble: “New Impossibilities” (Sony Classical) – arrangements of music by Kayhan Kalhor & Rabih Abou-Khalil
2006 – Matmos: The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast (Matador Records) – arrangement of “Solo Buttons for Joe Meek” with Kronos Quartet
2005 – Yo-Yo Ma & Silk Road Ensemble: “Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon” (Sony Classical) – arrangements of music by Kayhan Kalhor & Sandeep Das
2005 – Kronos Quartet & Asha Bhosle: “You’ve Stolen My Heart – Songs from R.D. Burman’s Bollywood” (Nonesuch) – transcriptions from original sources
as violist:
2012 – Fernando Otero: “Romance” (Soundbrush Records)
2012 – Sofia Ribeiro: “Ar” (independent)
2012 – Ryan Rumery: “Beyond the Horizon” (Independent)
2012 – Ryan Rumery: “Ivanov” (Independent)
2012 – Fall on Your Sword: “Nobody Walks” (Lakeshore Records)
2011 – Marta Topferova: “The Other Shore” (World Village)
2011 – Petros Klampanis: “Contextual” (Inner Circle Music)
2011 – Fall on Your Sword: “Another Earth” (Lakeshore Records)
2010 – Nina Nastasia: “Outlaster” (Fatcat)
2010 – The Knights: “New Worlds” (Sony Classical)
2010 – Amy Correia: “You Go Your Way” (Junketboy)
2009 – The Knights and Jan Vogler: “Experience: Live from New York” (Sony Classical)
2009 – Ronen Landa: “Picturebooks” (Love the Duck)
2007 – La Mar Enfortuna – “Conviviencia” (Tzadik)
2006 – Marta Topferova: “Flor Nocturna” (World Village)
2006 – Assif Tsahar & KJLA Quartet: “Solitude” (Hopscotch Records)
2005 – Golijov / Berio: “Ayre” (Deutsche Grammophon)
2005 – Angus Martin: “Presqu’ile” (Soluna)
2005 – Yo-Yo Ma & Silk Road Ensemble: “Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon” (Sony Classical)
2003 – Heavenly Lullabies “Heavenly Lullabies” (independent)
2002 – Assif Tsahar: “Fragments” (Hopscotch Records)
2001 – Orchestra of S.E.M. Ensemble / Petr Kotik: “Morton Feldman: The Turfan Fragments” (Dog w/a Bone)
2001 – George Davidson: “Allure” (GDP)
2001 – George Davidson: “With Love” (GDP)
2001 – George Davidson / Eugenio Leon: “Twin Strings II” (GDP)
