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Perhaps the most exotic band coming in this year to the Rainforest World Music Festival is the famous folk singers of Tuva, HUUN HUUR TU.

HUUN HUUR TU (In Tuvan, it is xün xürtü) literally means "sun propeller." or the vertical separation of light rays that often occurs just after sunrise or just before sunset. For the members of HUUN HUUR TU, the refraction of light that produces these rays seems analogous to the "refraction" of sound that produces articulated harmonics in Tuvan throat-singing.

Throat singing is also known as overtone singing. This is the musical technique of
"xöömei", in which a single vocalist simultaneously produces two distinct pitches - a
fundamental note and, high above it, a series of articulated harmonics that are sequenced into melodies and manipulated with extreme virtuosity in several canonical styles.

Traditionally, Tuvan overtone singing had been performed by soloists, each specializing in a particular style of xöömei. In 1992 Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, Alexander Bapa, his brother Sayan Bapa, and Albert Kuvezin founded the quartet Kungurtuk, as a means
of concentrating on the presentation of traditional songs of their homeland.

Representing such a culture, however, is a delicate task. How can one convey to outsiders the subtle sensibility of a music so intimately tied to a sense of place — a place whose landscapes and soundscapes are unknown to most listeners in the West or other parts of Asia? Must one experience the place to understand the music? Or do the sweeping melodic contours and poignant timbres of Tuvan music touch something in all of us — a vestigial collective memory of one of humankind's most ancient livelihoods - pastoralism?

Throat singing tries to aesthetically represent the sounds of nature - domestic animals, mountains and grasslands, and the elemental energies of wind, water, and light.

By precisely controlling the movements of lips, tongue, jaw, velum and larynx, a single Tuvan vocalist can produce two (occasionally three) distinct simultaneous notes, controlling the mouth's and throat's resonance.

Tuvan music is not abstract, like most Western music, but the product of a cult of imitation that ties it to an animistic understanding of the world.

The Republic of Tuva is a sparsely settled region of grasslands, boreal forests, and mountain ridges that lies some 2,500 miles east of Moscow, and is situated at the geographical centre of Asia, north of Mongolia. Turkic-speaking descendants of aboriginal Siberian forest people live there, herding reindeer in the taiga, blood mingled
with their longtime Mongol oppressors.

Decades of Soviet rule brought influences from Russia and from the West. Tuvan music, like many indigenous musical traditions around the world, has become de-territorialized.
HUUH HUUR TU has made a big name for themselves. Their community of listeners is a worldwide community The tradition's authenticity stems from the group's effort to bring their own life experience into their music, and to build a rapport with their audiences, as any tradition must to remain alive.

Kaigal-ool Khovalyg worked as a shepherd until the age of 21, when he was invited to join the Tuvan State Ensemble. He settled in Kyzyl and started teaching throat singing and igil. A co-founder of HUUN HUUR TU, he left the State Ensemble in 1993 to devote his attention to the newly formed quartet. Covering a range from tenor to bass, Khovalyg is particularly known for his unique rendition of the khöömei and kargyraa singing styles.

Sayan Bapa was a child of a Tuvan father and Russian mother and grew up in the industrial town Ak-Dovurak. He received his musical training in Kislovodsk, Northern Caucasus, where he played fretless bass in a Russian jazz-rock band for several years. In the early 1990s he returned to Tuva to study his roots, and became a member of a folk-rock band, performing traditional Tuvan music on electric instruments. Also co-founder of HUUN HUUR TU, Sayan is a versatile string instrumentalist, and performs on the doshpuluur, igil and acoustic guitar. As a vocalist he is currently specializing in the kargyraa style.

Usually HUUN HUUR TU performs on their own. For the Rainforest World Music Festival, they are not only bringing their traditional songs, but they will also be joined by members of Russian group MALERIJA – Sergei Klevensky & XMZ who will add more modern elements and world beat to their music.

The rave reviews of HUUN HUUR TU can cover ceiling to floor. The music is unfamiliar yet very accessible. It is deeply spiritual music that is rooted in the sounds of nature.

The Union News of Massachusetts described it as …..
"Imagine cool, fresh air, high altitudes, the wild open spaces of the steppes, rushing rivers, singing birds, galloping horses, yurts, and a culture that combines Buddhism with shamanism, and then imagine that you hear the sounds of all these elements in the music. With a beat. That's what it sounds like."

Their songs are haiku-like verses also about the simple things in life – often favorably comparing women with horses - in Tuvan, at least, a great compliment.

Don’t miss this unique group at the festival. It will make you smile while bringing tears to your eyes.