Okna Tsahan Zam

Vladimir Okonovich Karuev[1] (born 2 April 1957), better known by his Kalmyk name Okna Tsahan Zam,[2] is a Kalmyk folk singer, known for his throat singing and as a performer of the Kalmyk national epic Jangar.

Okna Tsahan Zam
Born (1957-04-02) 2 April 1957
Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR (now Republic of Kalmykia, Russia)
GenresThroat singing
Occupation(s)Folk singer
Years active1990-present

Biography

Okna Tsahan Zam does not have a traditional music education. According to an interview he gave to Tim Cope, an adventure filmmaker and author, he was educated in Moscow as a nuclear engineer and worked at a nuclear power plant. He turned to Kalmyk culture in his twenties and became a performer of the national epic Jangar. He toured extensively in Mongolia, as well as in Europe.[3]

Okna Tsahan Zam performs in the Khoomei style, a type of Tuvan throat singing, common in Mongolia, Tuva and Siberia. In 2005, he collaborated with Tanya Tagaq, a Canadian Inuit throat singer, and Wimme, a Sami yoiker from Finland, to release the recording Shaman Voices.[4] According to The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, he "intersperses traditional Mongolian stringed and wind instruments and throat-singing styles with natural steppeland sounds and experiments with urban remixes".[5]

Okna Tsahan Zam is a recipient of the Mongolian Order of the Polar Star, the highest civilian award Mongolia can present to a foreign citizen.[6] In 2002, he was awarded the Mongolian Golden Microphone Award for his song Edjin Duun.[7]

References
  1. Russian: Владимир Оконович Каруев, [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɐˈkonəvʲɪt͡ɕ kɐˈrujɪf]
  2. Oirat: Окна Цаһан Зам, [okˈna t͡saɣanˈzam], Mongolian: Охийн Цагаанзам, romanized: Okhiin Tsagaanzam, [ɔxiŋ t͡sɑɢaːnˈt͡sɑm]
  3. Tim Cope (2015): On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 978-1608194469
  4. C. Parker (2005): Shaman Voices, The Wire, Issues 251-256
  5. Ellen Koskoff: The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 2
  6. "Vladimir Karuev awarded the highest order of Mongolia", Kamykia News
  7. Okna Tsahan Zam, Last.fm
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