72nd release from Antonovka Records

The village of Tserkovische is known as the place where the famous folk singer Olga Sergeeva lived the most of her life. Here she sang the songs included by Andrei Tarkovsky in his film “Nostalgia” and called by him “the sign of the Russian”.

Our album is released in 2022, the year of the centenary of the birth of Olga Sergeeva and the ninetieth birthday of Andrei Tarkovsky.

A Nu-Ka Babushki (meaning “Come On, Grandmas”) Ensemble consists of fellow villagers of the celebrated singer. The age of the participants ranges from 60 to 90 years, which makes them, on average, the next generation after her.

Song genres: wedding (1-5), lyrical (6, 7, 9, 14), harvesting (, Maslenitsa (Winter Carnival — 10, 11), dancing (12), wedding/dancing (13), table (15), folk romance (16), Kupala (St. John’s Day — 17), modern (18), witty ditties (19-22).

A Nu-Ka Babushki Ensemble, from left to right on the album cover photo:
Anna Ivanova: vocals (1-15, 17-22)
Anna Karpenko: vocals (1-15, 17-18)
Valentina Poleshchenko: vocals (1-22)
Irina Malysheva (manager): vocals (1-15, 17-18)

Session musicians:

Ivan Strutinsky: button accordion (19, 21, 22)
Polina Gotsmanova: fiddle (20)

Thanks to all performers, Ksenia Goncharova, Dmitry Solomin.

Source: Antonovka Records, Facebook, 26 April 2022. Embedded recording courtesy of the Antonovka Records Bandcamp page