It’s 7:30 and from stage right, the door opens. Five men walk out, four of them are Tuvan the other American. The four Tuvans make up the throat singing group Huun Huur Tu. The American is Carmen Rizzo, he represents a whole new dimension to the more traditional and possibly ancient style of music. As a backdrop, a large screen flickers to life with looping abstract video images and a slow rhythmic beat from electronic instruments begins to pulse. The strings of the doshpuluur and the igil start to resonate.

Then the voices begin their drone and whistle. The overtones of Tuvan throat singing bring goosebumps to this magical moment. We feel lucky to be able to witness a live performance of a type of music that stems from such a tiny place far, far away. This style of singing appears to have begun with shepherds in the area of Mongolia but can be heard in different styles from native peoples as close as the Inuit of northern Canada. Our previous encounter with throat singing was a performance of Tibetan monks years ago in Scottsdale.

Tonight’s set was nearly evenly divided between the more traditional acoustic performances of the four members of Huun Huur Tu with and without the accompaniment of Carmen Rizzo. Both sides of the show were perfect; Carmen Rizzo took up his place behind the masters adding an epic soundtrack feel to the already dramatic sounds of this wonderful performance. A million thanks to the Musical Instrument Museum for bringing another great concert to Phoenix during a time of year that could typically be called “entertainment light”. Click here to watch and listen to Huun Huur Tu performing with Carmen Rizzo.

Thanks again to Jimmy C. Carrauthers of Great Leap Productions for his kind permission to use his photographs to accompany my blog entry.