siLLy puPPy RISHAD SHAFI PRESENTS GUNESH is a compilation album released in 1999 and contains the first two albums of the GUNESH ENSEMBLE: “Гунеш (Gunesh)” and “Вижу Землю ( I See Earth)” Previously these two albums were only available on one initial vinyl pressing and have remained rare and most likely quite pricey if you can even find one. As a lover of this type of eclectic world fusion of ethnic traditional sounds and jazz-rock, i am eternally grateful that someone took the initiative to make this music available at a reasonable price.

The one drawback to this compilation is that not only does it contain zero bonus or extra tracks, it also omits two tracks from the debut album: “Акжа Кепдери (4:03)“ and “Ялан (2:44). It also for some mysterious reason changed the titles of several tracks:

Original GUNESH album / RISHAD SHAFI PRESENTS…

Жиги-Жиги (Девушка) (3:42) / Младший Брат · The Younger Brother

2. Туни Деряп (5:28) / Плач Шасанем · The Lamentation Of Shahsanem

3. Акжа Кепдери (4:03) / omitted

4. Восточный Сувенир (4:58) / same title (Oriental Souvenir)

5. Кечпелек (7:08) / Горькая Судьба · Bitter Fate

6. Ялан (2:44) / omitted

7. Коне Гузер (4:15) / Свидание С Милой · Date With A Sweetheart

8. Арманым Галды (3:12) / Утолённая Любовь · Requited Love

The pluses are that the packaging is bilingual in English and Russian and tells the story of the GUNESH ENSEMBLE’s history in the Soviet Union era Turkmenistan and of course that this wonderful music is available on CD! This is worth the price of admission for the second album alone but six out of eight tracks off the debut album are quite worth hearing as well. Another band that i would’ve loved to hear a few more albums from.

Album 1 = 4 stars Album 2 = 5 stars Thus 4.5 stars

siLLy puPPy The GUNESH ENSEMBLE (Гунеш) actually formed all the way back in 1970 and went through various lineups. In the beginning the ensemble was featured on the State TV And Radio Company Of The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, now more familiar as Turkmenistan. While the band began as a vocal group with supporting instrumentation, it was the drummer Rishad Shafi who had the itch to pursue the jazz-fusion world and attracted other members who wished to do the same.

Throughout the 70s the band entered contests throughout the Soviet Union and won first prize in many of the competitions for their highly developed take on traditional mughams and jazz improvisations. A mugham is a very complex musical art that combines classical poetry and musical improv. It is a modal system, but unlike Western systems it is not only used with scales but rather is a collection of melodies that enrich the improvisation that is enhanced for a specific event. This can mean increased intensity, rising pitches or even fusing poetic interpretation into musical form. This is a very common art form in this part of the world.

After ten long years and countless performances the GUNESH ENSEMBLE finally released their debut album Гунеш (GUNESH) in 1980. Unlike the spectacular second release and mega-masterpiece “Вижу Землю (Looking At Earth)” which dosed everything jazz-world-fusion-rock in heavy steroids, this debut release finds the band on a less ambitious journey although it is by no means a sleeper. Whereas the second album finds any global influence fair game, this one is more focused on traditional Turkmen music with a healthy jazzy horn section mixed with some veritable progressive rock which is heard mainly in the drum section as well as with the guitar. This first release has a lot more tracks focusing on vocals and harmonies which are less frantic without the playful trumpets, trombones, flutes and keyboards that dominate the instrumentals.

While this debut album by the GUNESH ENSEMBLE isn’t nearly as brilliant as the second, it is a beautiful debut that takes you to a lonely corner of the globe where very little is known to the average Westerner and extremely well progressive music like this shouldn’t be missed. This album had only one vinyl release in 1980 and is probably impossible to find but fear not. Rishad Shafi released the first two albums on CD titled “Rishad Shafi Presents Gunesh.”

siLLy puPPy Going through the tons of albums I have from Turkmenistan (ha!), I think i've found a favorite! The GUNESH ENSEMBLE (sometimes found only as Гунеш (GUNESH) was a highly eclectic and energetic group led by drummer Rishard Shafi. They were masters of jazz-fusion mixed with all things Central Asian folk including haunting chants and exotic instruments. Of course they even had a Vietnamese singer! After their first album of mostly folk material they really stepped it up and created something truly unique and unbelievable.

Вижу Землю (Looking At Earth) in an unearthly amalgation of musical majesticness. The album begins with a whispering wind and some temple bells before Russian dialogue ushers in some seriously deranged funkiness and energetic percussion and horns with some strange electronic “talking.” The jazz-fusion doesn't waste any time getting warmed up. You know you're in for a very wild ride with this one. The album continues to surprise with abrupt changes but quite capable of sustaining a beautiful melody in the form of song or chant. The interplay of 10 plus instruments may be going on at any given moment. Absent are any influences from Western bands. All sounds original and isolated like it was all created in a remote area that still hasn't made contact with the Western world. However parts do remind me of Italian avant-proggers Area and the last cut sounds like a traditional Vietnamese song meets the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

If you like eclectic world fusion then you will love this. Must hear to believe.