MARC ALMOND with ALEXEI FEDOROV “ORPHEUS IN EXILE”The Songs of Vadim KozinMarc Almond – a latter day curator of popular song – has rediscovered the songbook of Vadim Kozin. Kozin was the Soviet eram”s much-loved, exiled then forgotten singer of Gypsy Folk and Russian Torch Song Romances. Almond will release “Orpheus in Exile” (a collection of Kozin’s songs) on Cherry Red Records on 7th September.Almond discovered Kozin’s work on his first visit to Russia in 1992 and was immediately taken with the purity and passion of his voice, as well as the beauty and melancholy of his songs, which are enhanced by the hardships Kozin suffered throughout his life. A fallen idol, Stalin exiled Vadim Kozin at the height of his fame for his insubordinate refusal to write a song for the President, arguably not aided by Kozin’s homosexuality. The incarcerated Kozin became a chanteur of the Gulags, a star-turn in touring prison revues and he remained in self-imposed exile in the Northern Russian Gulag city of Magadan after the end of his prison term right until his death in 1994 at the age of 91.Marc has joined creative forces with Russian producer and musical arranger Alexei Fedorov who shares both Marc’s love of Kozin and his aim to help bring his repertoire to a new audience. The songs have been specially translated for Marc and have never been sung in English before. “Oprheus in Exile” was recorded and mixed in Moscow, and features Russiam”s most famous folk ensemble, Orchestra Rossiya, conducted by renowned arranger/conductor, Anatoly Sobolev. who arranged some of Kozin’s songs for the orchestra.Kozin may have been forgotten and marginalized, but Almond, with his consummate and intuitive artistry and who identifies so strongly with Kozin’s ‘romance songs’ tradition, gives this work new life. Russia has taken Marc Almond to their hearts and he is often referred to by the Russian media as “Russia’s Adopted Son”.The flamboyance and despair of Kozin is juxtaposed by the ever-present optimism of a lost genre of song. Marc Almond gives these universal concerns an overdue airing in a unique album that gives the original songs an all-new big, classy and stylized orchestral production, yet stays true to the original feel and roots of the songs. Knowing about his life and the hardships he suffered gives his songs, even his happy songs, a melancholy side. I discovered Kozin on my first visit to Russia in 1992, when I toured Russia and Siberia with just Martin Watkins, on what was often a half tuned piano for accompaniment and sometimes no microphone or any amplification. I was given his recordings by people I met on my journey; I was heartened to see young Russians had remembered and re-discovered him, and had thought of me as someone who could relate to him and maybe bring his songs to life again for a new audience. He had never been to England; the songs he wrote and the songs he sang, never heard in an English language. I loved the scratchy sound recordings, the songs with the plaintive and passionate voice and discovering the beauty of their words, as well as their sound, and re1g the story of the singer of these songs made me love them and connect with them even more. I first sang his songs on my album of Russian songs, Heart On Snow, and it became a labour of love for me to record an album of just his songs. I wanted to take him over the sea through time to my own audience. Let his name be known a little further afield than his Russian homeland. I chose a selection of his songs, some written by him and some that he included in his vast repertoire and that he was known and loved for. And in a way they tell a story of his life. (Marc Almond)oтcюдa: http://www.thepublicityconnection.com/Nav/almond.html
