Oi Va Voi launches UK tour
Pride of young British Jews is back out on tour
Oi Va Voi emerged in London in 2000 and have been pushing back musical boundaries ever since with the use of trumpets, violins, guitars, clarinets and thumping basslines.
Trumpeter Lemez Lovas, drummer Josh Breslaw, bassist Leo Bryant, clarinetist Steve Levi, guitarist Nik Ammar and violinist Sophie Solomon pooled their diverse musical backgrounds in left-field jazz, hip-hop, rock bands, drum n' bass and Jewish klezmer.
Yet anybody who saw Oi Va Voi's spectacular live shows was left in little doubt that they were far more than a world music act with an enviable ability to rock a crowd and get a dance floor heaving.
The buzz surrounding the band grew as they won over crowds everywhere from Glastonbury to New York's Knitting Factory. The group received two nominations in the 2003 BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards; the Boundary Crossing and Listeners' Award categories; and all this from a band that then had no official CD release to their name.
It's easy to fathom the appeal. Oi Va Voi's combination of Klezmer, contemporary club beats, and Mediterranean and East European gypsy airs make for an exciting dance-floor friendly sound. Trumpet, clarinet, violin and guitar cavort around over the top of club-friendly rhythms coming courtesy of basslines and drums rather than pre-programmed machinery.
Oi Va Voi are forging an identity which both draws on their roots and celebrates the cultural pluralism that surrounds us all in Britain whereby the cultural mix reflects the modern interdependent world we all now live in. Like the tastes of the best contemporary fusion cookery, they create something new through mixing and matching ingredients that they know, love and understand.
Long-awaited second album
Oi Va Voi has not only been celebrated as one the of the most exciting bands in Britain today, but also launched the careers of world famous musicians such as the brilliant KT Tunstall and the talented LSO soloist Sophie Solomon.The long-awaited second album (Oi Va Voi) takes their unique mix of global rhythms and club-friendly beats to new heights - bigger, bolder and with more attitude than anything even their most ardent fans could have imagined. Now the band return on a UK tour after a sell out European tour schedule this summer which saw them playing nearly every country in Europe several times over and to huge crowds.
Now they begin a tour of the UK taking in some of the largest venues in the country. If you can, catch a band on the rise as they break through the ceiling with a signing to a major international record label and set about a tour that is usually the preserve of the stars of rock n' roll!
All this from a band that initially started out by playing new arrangements of old Klezmer tunes. It's amazing what you can do when you devote skill, effort and passion and combine them together. Catch them live and be inspired!
For details on live dates, visit Oi Va Voi's website.
