JANEK SCHAEFER/GINO ZARDO WALKING EAST CD (in conjunction with Audioh!) A22

Gino Zardo is a photographer and field recordist born to Italian parents in Australia in 1968. He lives New York and has worked along side with some of the most prominent photographers in the world for 15 years. Walking East is his debut release. Walking East is a photographic sound portrait of my travels through the North Western provinces of India, the Himalayas of Nepal and the Island of Papua New Guinea. I set out to explore, through the people I met, the way in which my photographs and sound recordings could magnify the sense of time and place. I began the project in January 1999. Covering 50,000 miles over the next 12 months. I found myself trekking for days through the vast contrasting of landscapes, a western desert, a tropical monsoon, and a dense jungle before I would reach a remote village. Camping along the way and living amongst the families and tribes, I was able to experience their daily lives and acquire an understanding of their histories and cultures. Documenting a variety of people as they performed in music festivals, worked in steel mills, sold their wares in markets, and celebrated their tribal rituals together, I found many similarities. The presence of community; joy, hardship and survival are universal. My thanks to everyone I met throughout my journey who shared their homes and lives with me. I would like to dedicate this project to Moke, a friend I had made along the way, whose courage and honour saved my life...Special thanks to To Aimee, the power of my strength, the love of my life, and also to Janek, whose patience and gifted talents helped me develop and complete the project.

It is highly recommended that you take a look at Gino's photography. 




$10 postage paid in North America, elsewhere see the Alluvial Shop for additional postage rates.

Sound sample here.




REVIEWS:

Vital Weekly 474 (Frans de Waard)

"Gino Zardo is a photographer and field recording artist, and perhaps that is the same thing. Taking photographs of people and/or environments is the same as recording their sound. This mini CD is the result of a travel through the North Western provinces of India, the Himalayas and Papua New Guinea. In the booklet we see his photography, which is quite nice. The sounds recorded while en route were handed out to Janek Schaefer, who edited the music, into a nice collage of ethnic sound - a soundpicture of the Third World. For me an area of the world that I haven't visited before, but which I know from previous releases in this area, starting with the Touch cassettes up until the Indian Soundscapes on Soleilmoon. In that respect it doesn't add something new to either field recording or knowing more about the cultures the recordings come from, but nevertheless its a well done release".





Phosphor Magazine (August 2005, Berlin, Smm)

If like me you relish the idea of listening to the birds in strange foreign climes, conversing with Sadu’s, attending tribal rituals, taking taxi journeys in rickety old cars you’ve never seen before whilst listening to the radio and it all sounds so much better, lovely and new and all the while taking hundreds of photographs, then you’ll love this… ‘Walking East’ is the debut release from Gino Zardo who is a photographer and field recordist from Australia, its a photographic sound portrait of the artist’s travels through the North Western provinces of India, the Himalayas and Papua New Guinea, its very succesful as for the entire piece your right there with him. He was able to gain the trust to get close enough to live amongst the families and tribes of these regions and witness and indeed record their ragas and spirituals, crafting and blending it all together to create something quite special. The CD is also accompanied by a booklet full of Gino’s beautiful photography taken on his travels, in fact this is one of the theme’s that brings it all together, as you listen at certain points you will here the constant winding on of his camera. A lovely piece of work realising that the presence of community, hardship, joy and survival are universal. I’m off now to grow a substantial beard, live up a mountain and rear goats for their milk. 



Gonzo Circus Magazine, Belgium (pds)

Original Dutch:

Meer dan zes jaar had Ginzo Zardo nodig om ‘Walking East’ uit te werken en af te ronden. Zardo, geboren in Australië uit Italiaanse ouders woont en werkt als fotograaf in New-York. Voor ‘Walking East’ trok hij twaalf maanden rond in India, Nepal, Papa New Guinea en de Himalaya. Zijn ervaringen bundelde hij in een fotoreportage. De foto’s – stuk voor stuk indringende beelden van de plaatselijke culturen. Zardo zoomt in op eenvoudige taferelen en plaats in zijn werk de mens centraal, een zeldzaam beeld van een maïsveld en een visvangst niet te nagelaten – worden muzikaal ondersteund met geluidsopnames die Zardo ter plaatse maakte. Janek Schaefer verwerkte de opnames tot een lang uitgesponnen collega. Voor Schaefer, een gevestigde turntablist en geluidsarchitect, is ‘Walking East’ opnieuw een verdieping in een andere cultuur geworden. Voor zijn vorige plaat ‘Songs For Europe’, een samenwerking met Philip Jeck, liet hij zich inspireren door de Turkse en de Griekse traditie, nu verdiept hij zich in de primitieve Aziatische culturen. De combinatie van het fotomateriaal en het ruw geschetst geluidsarchief maken ‘Walking East’ tot een volwaardig reisverslag. Het fijne oog van Zardo en het gehoor van Schaefer, stille ontdekkingsreizigers van een vergeten wereld, zorgt ervoor dat ‘Walking East’ een absolute aanrader is....

Very Bad English Translation:

More than six years were necessary for Ginzo Zardo to develop `Walking East'.  Zardo, born in Australia to Italian parents, lives and works as a photographer in New York.  For `Walking East', he travelled around for twelve months in India, Nepal, Paupa New Guinea and the Himalayas and documented his experiences with a photologue. The photographs - one after the other, show the uniqueness of local cultures. Zardo documented the places and people in his work. The music on the CD uses field recordings which Zardo made on the spot. Janek Schaefer processed the recordings into a long spanning collage. For Schaefer, established turntablist and sound architect, `Walking East' reveals the deepeness of another culture. He seems to have drawn inspiration from his previous offering `Songs For Europe', a collaboration with Philip Jeck, which was in the Turkish and the Greek traditions, now he absorbs himself in primitive Asian cultures. The combination of the photographic material and roughly outlined sounds turns `Walking East' into a full travel report. The fine eye of Zardo and the composition of Schaefer, quietly discover travels of forgotten worlds, and ensures that `Walking East' is an absolute must.

Touching Extremes, Rome, January 2006 (Massimo Ricci)

A renowned photographer (take a look at the fabulous pictures adorning the cover and the booklet of this CD) Gino Zardo captured many intriguing frames of regular everyday (and night) life during long trips to India, Nepal and Papua New Guinea, in a series of splendid field recordings later assembled and transformed in a veritable composition by Janek Schaefer. The short duration - a little more than 21 minutes - does not detract from the sheer beauty of this complex layering of noises, voices, television, human and animal calls; the juxtaposition of sources reflects a finely conceived architecture, well-thought sound placement becoming the key to the appreciation of a luxury audio artifact. The whole package - photos and music - brims with love for life itself and is not to be missed.

GAZ-ETA Number 40, Poland, February 2006 (Tom Sekowski)

Australian photographer and field recording artist Gino Zardo walked the trek through North Western provinces of India, Himalayas in Nepal and Papua New Guinea. For a full year, beginning in January of 1999, he covered a distance of 50,000 miles. His goal was to experience the daily life of the tribes. While camping with families along the way, he was able to take in the full scope of their daily life - their routines, their music, and their customs. On his return, he handed his recordings over to Janek Schaefer who constructed a 21 minute audio diary of Zardo's travels. The sounds on this brief CD range from flocks of birds whooshing by, someone playing a guitar, chants, chorus of kids playing, waves, rainstorm, cars, bits and pieces of human dialogue, sound of someone fixing a bicycle, and general sounds of nature. The CD comes packaged in a beautiful cardboard sleeve, complete with a booklet full of truly humane photographs taken by Zardo on his long journey. [Much of his photography can be viewed at www.ginozardo.com] For all it's worth, this audio documentary should've been two or three times its original length. Hats off to Janek Schaefer for an amazing editing job on original tapes. The flow of the piece is seamless, without a hint of a bad cut anywhere.  "Walking East" turns out to be a true treasure for fans of audio and visual arts.

Auf Abwegen #35, Winter 2005 (Till Kniola)

Gino Zardo behandelt das Problem anders, indem er durch Fotos im Booklet und Betitelung eine sanfte Kritik an der Vormachtstellung des westlichen Way of life transportiert und in einer asthetischen Verbeugung vor dem Klang einer anderen Kultur (in diesem Falle Indien, Nepal und Papua Neu-Guinea) munden lasst. 


All photos on this page by Gino Zardo. (Janek Schaefer below)