DESCRIPTION:
SPIRO performs the song "THE CITY AND THE STARS" for BalconyTV.
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PRESENTED BY SHAHANA GOSWAMI

{Fourth in a series of special episodes from JodhpurRiff}

Instrumental music group Spiro was formed in 1993, in Bristol, UK. They released an album called Lost in Fishponds under the name The Famous Five in 1994. As Spiro, they've released 3 albums, the latest being Kaleidophonica. They don't really want to put their music in a box, but the group's guitarist Jon Hunt has this to say about it: "Weʼve got as much to do with minimalist classical and dance music as we have with folk. Even though we use folk tunes, theyʼre raw materials that the rest of the sound is built around."

In Mehrangarh Fort at Jodhpur Riff, they played a variety of tracks from their albums, bringing on stage a mesmeric and metronomic magic to the festival.

The group's line-up has remained unchanged over the years (Jane Harbour on the violin or viola, Alex Vann on the mandolin, Jason Sparkes on the accordion and Jon Hunt on the acoustic guitar or cello). The members bring with them a variety of musical influences and experiences.

Harbour studied classical violin in Japan under the legendary Shinichi Suzuki and grew up "listening to a lot of vaguely modern classical stuff like Bartok and Stravinsky and Britten."

Sparkes began his classical training during his pre-school years before taking up folk music in his teens, after being inspired by his morris-dancing father.

Vann was a drummer in a punk band before taking up the electric guitar and then graduating to the mandolin.

Hunt also played in punk bands, moving from pop to folk to punk to post-punk/new wave but emerged with "this preserved love and fascination for traditional English music".

Spiro like to record their albums as if they are playing live, with no over-dubs or multi-tracking. A method which they use because, as Hunt says, "A lot of the interplay that makes that magical effect actually happens in the air at the time the instruments are physically sounding."

In association with JodhpurRiff - http://jodhpurriff.org - one of the worlds' best music festivals

JodhpurRiff on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jodhpur-RIFF-Rajasthan-International-Folk-Festival/140546077196

JodhpurRiff on Twitter - @JodhpurRIFF

www.spiromusic.com

CREDITS / SPONSORS
An Oijo Production
Sound and Mix - Kavi Bhansali/Raghav Suthaud

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