Trigon
(Chisenau/Moldavia)

Anatol Stefanet - viola, vocals Sergiu Testemiteanu - bass guitar Oleg Baltaga - drums

guest musician: Mikhail Alperin - claviola

"The three of us- Anatol, Sergei and Oleg- are born in Moldavia, a small agricultual country where you have the best oppurtunities to become a good wine-maker or a good musician.
When we have grown in age and in professionalism we understood that we must perform only music we like and sing only about things we love-about nature, about our country folk, about love and about ourselves in this world. We wanted our music to reflect our lives, that's why we called our CD OGLINDA - the mirror."
(TRIGON about TRIGON)

Anatoly Stefanet, the viola player, surprisingly lacks any of the inhibitions of a traditional folk musician. True, the connservatism of folk musicians is understandable and easy to explain; Anatoly, however, is the exception to the rule which some time ago produced a phenomeneon called "world music". This mixture of various genres emphasized the absence of any contradictions inside the music culture as such. The merger of folk music, jazz, chamber instrumental tradition, rock and even funk was the chief factor for Trigon´s transition to a musical language of its own.

A few more words about the musicians:
Anatoly Stefanet is a violonist by education. He was born into a "lautary" family. The Stefanets were musicians like others are millers or notaries. To this day, old peole still remember his grandfather Toader, who was the most famous lautar of Nothern Moldavia. Old Toader passed on his incomparable knowledge to his four sons and seven grandsons who have all become professional musicians. From father to son, from one generation to the next, they travelled across the country singing love songs or playing "drinking" melodies, bringing the news from other vilages or from the city. The lautari accompanied the people in all the joys and misfortunes of life.
Illiterate like nine tenth of their fellow citizens, ignorant of any form of musical notation, these musicians could only count on their memory to remember the melodies they heard. The fundamental diatonic structure of this music gave them great liberty, which the greatest musicians among them made full use of. Enriched with melismatic ornamentation and specific rhytmical syncopation, the most traditional melodies in their handy became original creations.
Yet it is not improvisation as can we know it in jazz music, which is involved here. The criteria that rule over traditional moldavian music - and more generally, the music of the Balkans - are much too fundamental to be questioned. It would therefore be more approprate to talk of a spiritual re-appropriation, as if the interpreter´s soul enlightened the ancestral ouvre despite himself. It is indeed a classical attitude: that of liberty expressing itself within a strict framework. Alls things considered, was it not what Bach used to do when he appropriated Vivaldi´s themes?

Stefanet finished a musical school and conservatoire in Moldova. For many years he toured the world with the famous folk group from Kichinev called "Laeutari" where he discovered the bratsch (viola). In a taraf (traditional orchestra) the bratsch has a specific role, both rhythmic and harmonic, because she stresses the weak beat.

Fascinated by the warm sound of the bratsch, very close th the human voice, Anatol Stefanet decided to take the instrument out of the rhythmic and harmonic section where it was confined and present it totally as a solo instrument - an unprecedented experience.
Anatoly owes his skill in no small measure to rural weddings, because it is impossible to acquire the style of authentic tradition at any conservatoire.

Oleg Baltaga, the drummer, started his music career as a traditional jazzman and rock musician. He worked with quite a few pop groups in Moldova and also taught at the conservatory. Like Anatoly, Oleg spent many a sleepless night playing at rural weddings.

Sergei Testimatsanu, the arranger and bass guitarist, is a keen musician by nature; he has an intimate feeling of the musical texture. Once he was in love with Pastorius and 'Weather Report' and, just as his fellow-musicians, took part in many fusion music projects in Moldova.

TRIGON released their first CD "Wedding in Jazz" in France (SILEX) and immediately received the French music award "Grand Prix du Disc".

Their highly acclaimed concert debut in Germany took place in April 1998 at the "Hamburg Jazz Festival" in the cities famous cultural center 'Farbik'. Since then they have performed frequently in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium and Russia.


Discography

Oglinda (The Mirror) (1998) JARO 4215-2 / Trigon