![]() |
||
|---|---|---|
ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF FROMUZ |
||
Albert Khalmurzaev - Keyboards |
Albert was born in Uzbekistan in 1967. His specialty is acting, working in dramatic theatre and cinema. His first musical steps were begun in school where a group he formed played avant-garde instrumental music, using not only conventional instruments, but also specially made equipment, and various found objects. During his studying at the poly-technical institute, in 1984, he played guitar and percussion in a group, "Visit," performing for student festivals. When Albert was called to serve in the navy, he continued his musical training in the group, "Contour.” The group successfully participated in the Seaside Rock Festival in 1987 and won first prize. In 1989, he became a participant in an acoustic art group called “Rare Bird,” (guitar, vocals, mandolin, wooden flute, harmonica & percussion). Enough music was created for two albums, “Music for Relatives” and “Electric,” which are no longer available. The group participated in rock festivals in Central Asia and played many concerts. During the same period Albert began to work in the Youth Theater of Uzbekistan, first as an actor, and then as an arranger and composer. In the theater, Albert has arranged music for about 20 performances and has composed music and songs for 14 others. He collaborates frequently with local radio and TV stations. Two albums of his theatrical performances have been recorded and published in Europe: “SodomandGomorrahXXI” (Musea Records, France) and “Dances on Gobelins” of the project X Religion (Mellow Records, Italy). In 2004, he was offered the opportunity to play “Sodomand Gomorrah XXI” live with the newly formed group, Fromuz. After the completion of this project he became a full member of the team.
|
|
Andrew Mara-Novik - Bass |
Andrew is the youngest member of team, musically, but the eldest chronologically. He was born in Russia in 1962, but has lived all his life in Uzbekistan. He has two degrees, one of them being journalism. He has been interested in music since school age and has played in groups such as “Downpour”, "Monologues", and “Disorder,” and has participated in different small local festivals and competitions of amateur art and performance. As a student, he took part in recording musical performances for the Uzbek theaters. In 1984, he was compelled to stop his musical training, while he served in the security services. He is an international expert in airport safety, and checking posts through the state frontier. After retirement from civil service in 2002, he decided to resume his musical interests. To pursue them he bought a guitar and created a small private company, “ZIP TOP” in order to produce musicians, whose creativity, in his opinion, has progressive and intellectual orientations. Recently he has worked much with the well-known guitarist Vitaly Popeloff, with whom he formed Fromuz in 2004.
|
|
Vitaly Popeloff - Guitars |
Vitaly was born in Tashkent in 1969. Although trained as a civil engineer in the specialty of airport construction, he has not worked in that field. In his youth, he enthusiastically pursued sports and played handball actively. He began to take an interest in music during his student years and developed his talents very quickly. In 1991, he formed his first "serious" group called “Edgar Poe,” which earned popularity in Tashkent, playing in the art-rock style. Later his musical passions were turned to jazz, where his inspiration led to the formation of the jazz project called “Not For Sale” (1994). In 2003, he recorded his first solo album “Pure Fiction,” which reflects his passion for jazz. In 1999,Vitaly became a session musician. He is the top studio guitarist in Uzbekistan today, taking part in recording of albums and concerts of many musical stars of the Uzbek variety. However, his musical passions have always been directed toward serious music. He constantly explores musical experiments, using a wide variety of instruments and equipment. In 2004, Vitaly joined forces with Andrew Mara-Novik to begin the musical collaboration that became Fromuz.
|
|
Vladimir Badirov - Percussion |
Born in 1967 and raised in Uzbekistan, Vladimir trained as a musician, brought-upin a family of music teachers. He successfully graduated from music school in class of a violin. However, at age 15 years he became passionately keen on learning drums. He graduated from the Tashkent Variety Studio in this specialty, and has not changed his favorite instrument in 20 years. Vladimir has been involved in many musical projects. From 1994 to 2002, he collaborated with Yulduz Usmanova. In her team he traveled with performances almost all over the globe, playing in ethnic pop music festivals. As a session musician, he has accompanied the young singer, Sevara Nazarkhan. In 2003, they traveled in Europe and America with Peter Gabriel, the mega-star of world music, with his show, “Grown Up.” Vladimir's first solo album “Greeting from Nostradamus,” came out in 2004 on the Unicorn Records label. It has received very positive reviews critically. Shortly after this, “Greeting from Nostradamus – LIVE” was also released. Participation in Fromuz became the logical continuation of Vladimir’s musical pursuits, passions, and love of music.
|
|
|
||