Canes of Karabakh is a band formed by Stanisław Matys (duduk), Olgierd Dokalski (flugelhorn, SFX), and Paweł Bartnik (electronics). The project's founding stems from the duduk player's specific experience.
…Matys has been learning to play the duduk from his Armenian friend, Narek. Narek regularly supplies Matys with reeds for the instrument. The reeds, called gamish in Armenian, are made from cane. The best material comes from Nagorno-Karabakh, where reeds are used to make medium and hard reeds that have a beautiful, rich tone. One day, Matys finds out from Narek that the price of reeds has doubled, from 25 to 50 euros. This is a result of Armenia's defeat in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh. This situation provokes a sense of discomfort in us, the Polish musicians who have embraced the sound of the duduk. First, we are drawing from a tradition that is endangered and deeply rooted in a specific place, its people, landscapes, and nature. Second, we can afford these reeds, but many Armenians can no longer do so. With greater awareness, we see how inaccessible, or seemingly accessible, the local culture is to us. This leads to reflections on the extent to which (and whether at all) we have the right to draw from this Tradition without violating or desecrating it. We want Canes of Karabakh to be a modest, musical acknowledgment/drawing attention to the fragility of the duduk—an instrument with a history spanning well over a thousand years. We purposely do not use traditional melodies, feeling their great importance, which we cannot fully honor. Instead, we focus on the sound of the duduk in combination with the sound of the trumpet and flugelhorn. This sound is the focus of our musical endeavors.
Source: press release
