Briga

“By mixing in the same song Bulgarian, French & English lyrics, Briga plays with both the joys of discovering new unknown languages, and the sober reality of understanding lyrics that are at times as tragic as they are funny … Over all, Turbo Folk Stories beckons us into the incommensurately rich world of Roma music, all the while maintaining a genuine and honest approach. A beautiful way for any listener to air out their ears and their soul to the upcoming springtime!”
- Sons & Images

“By mixing in the same song Bulgarian, French & English lyrics, Briga plays with both the joys of discovering new unknown languages, and the sober reality of understanding lyrics that are at times as tragic as they are funny … Over all, Turbo Folk Stories beckons us into the incommensurately rich world of Roma music, all the while maintaining a genuine and honest approach. A beautiful way for any listener to air out their ears and their soul to the upcoming springtime!”
- Sons & Images

A wild multiethnic quintet that's a must see on stage. Based in « Balkan music/repertoire, full électric weird! », the peppy violinist/ singer tells us about her encouter with Georgi Yanev & Bob Olivier, her new album hot off the press and her adventures in eastern Europe + the Balkans - Espace Musique Radio Canada

Translation of Yves Bernard's review of Turbo Folk Stories in La Vitrine du Disque, Le Devoir - Feb 17th, 2012

Everything in regards to Briga is drenched in duality; be it Briga as the Gypsies of Sarajevo's violinist, or Briga aka Brigitte Dajczer - the Montrealer who's fragmented identity perfectly reflects her own home town's. We could also say : Briga, the artist who'se music is deeply influenced by Balkan music or progressive sounds, or even better yet Briga - the traditionalist or the contemporary, the singer or the musician, the dramatic performer or the entertainer that brings everybody up on their feet to dance...Turbo Folk Stories is at times lamentable and delicate, more open musically than the previous disc, and at times full of mediterranean percussion with touches of tabla, keys & bass. This album is sung, funky, improvised, as intimate as biting, a touch free, dirty, retro... and damn good.
- Le Devoir - Montreal

“Avec l’instrumental Groove, le premier des deux disques, elle s’aventure vers les sentiers du prog, tout en intégrant des rythmes asymétriques des Roms, de l’improvisation parfois bluesy et des sautillements plus afro qui se marient bien à la musique des Balkans. Puis dans Songs & Chansons, le deuxième, Briga chante en anglais et en français en mode plus émotif que festif. Le violon se laisse emporter par la voixil y a quelques moments syncopés qui ponctuent les deux disques et parfois le monde arabe n’est pas loin. Dans l’ensemble, Briga trace la voie d’un joli parcours.” - Le Devoir - Montreal

“Avec l’instrumental Groove, le premier des deux disques, elle s’aventure vers les sentiers du prog, tout en intégrant des rythmes asymétriques des Roms, de l’improvisation parfois bluesy et des sautillements plus afro qui se marient bien à la musique des Balkans. Puis dans Songs & Chansons, le deuxième, Briga chante en anglais et en français en mode plus émotif que festif. Le violon se laisse emporter par la voixil y a quelques moments syncopés qui ponctuent les deux disques et parfois le monde arabe n’est pas loin. Dans l’ensemble, Briga trace la voie d’un joli parcours.” - Le Devoir - Montreal

“Certains l’ont entendue avec le troubadour klezpunk vancouvérois Geoff Berner, d’autres avec les Gitans de Sarajevo… Voilà en tout cas un moment que Brigitte Dajczer (alias Briga, qui veut aussi dire “douleur” ou “souffrance”) peaufine son style de violon aux influences romanies, klezmer, turbo-folk (folklore métissé à la moderne en ex-Yougoslavie), jazz et autres cultures européennes en “ie” (Bulgarie, Roumanie, etc.). Élevée en Alberta par un père polonais et une mère québécoise, puis de retour à Montréal depuis 10 ans, elle lancera bientôt un deuxième album solo, Turbo Folk Stories, inspiré d’une récente tournée des Balkans avec son violoniste préféré, Georgi Yanev.” - Voir - Montréal

“Certains l’ont entendue avec le troubadour klezpunk vancouvérois Geoff Berner, d’autres avec les Gitans de Sarajevo… Voilà en tout cas un moment que Brigitte Dajczer (alias Briga, qui veut aussi dire “douleur” ou “souffrance”) peaufine son style de violon aux influences romanies, klezmer, turbo-folk (folklore métissé à la moderne en ex-Yougoslavie), jazz et autres cultures européennes en “ie” (Bulgarie, Roumanie, etc.). Élevée en Alberta par un père polonais et une mère québécoise, puis de retour à Montréal depuis 10 ans, elle lancera bientôt un deuxième album solo, Turbo Folk Stories, inspiré d’une récente tournée des Balkans avec son violoniste préféré, Georgi Yanev.” - Voir - Montréal

“The gauntlet thrown down…pianist Rick Coluccio played with runaway-train desperation and violinist Briga joyfully wailed away. That, my friends, was a set-ender.” - Montreal Gazette

“The gauntlet thrown down…pianist Rick Coluccio played with runaway-train desperation and violinist Briga joyfully wailed away. That, my friends, was a set-ender.” - Montreal Gazette

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John Goddard
Toronto Star
(Independent)

(out of 4)

Born Brigitte Dajczer, this Montreal artist — granddaughter of a concert pianist and daughter of a symphony orchestra performer — sports red high-heeled boots onstage and plays violin furiously, with deep feeling. On Groove, disc one of her ambitious, double-CD debut, she plays instrumental Balkan Gypsy songs with virtuosity and intensity. On the other disc, Songs and Chansons, she sings cabaret songs, sometimes in English but mostly in French. She and her four-piece band come across as exuberant and entertaining; they make their first Toronto appearance Feb. 23 at Hugh’s Room.
- Toronto Star

Briga
Diaspora (Festival)
written by MICHAEL BARCLAY for Nightlife

Anyone familiar with Balkan music knows that not only is it powerful and passionate, but it can also be lightning quick — usually for brass players. Briga is Montreal’s Brigitte Dajczer (Les Gitans de Sarajevo, Geoff Berner), who tackles impossible tempos on her violin with the help of an equally awesome, jazzy band behind her. The production is a bit too pristine for those who like their worldly sounds raw, but the power of the playing is undeniable. And because she needs to take a breather, the second disc here finds her crooning in a French chanson style — it’s somewhat less successful than the instrumentals, but proves that she’s got the whole package. Expect her to be the talk of the folk festival circuit this summer.

Download (cdbaby.com): Couscousescu, Hora Martisorului, Qalbi - The Record.com

SEE BRIGITTE DAJCZER perform once and her red boots will leave a permanent mark. See her a second time and you just might fall in love. A Montreal-based, world class violinist, she often dances onstage like a child at play; yet, at the same time, she is unmistakably sensual. A member of the Juno-nominated Les Gitans de Sarajevo, she often plays with Geoff Berner (The Whiskey Rabbi) and Michel Donato, to name a few. This Friday, she brings her newest project, Briga, to Café Sarajevo. “I call it gypsy violin in a hotbed of music,” she says. You can call it the perfect antidote to the winter blues.
Dajczer has been developing her “symbiotic relationship” with music since the tender age of four. First came violin lessons, then original compositions by age five. By the time she was 12, she had become a multi-instrumentalist, playing violin, accordion, piano, viola, guitar, flute, and piccolo. Classically trained at the Toronto Conservatory of Music, she learned to improvise by performing in blues bars at the age of 15. While her incredible skill has allowed her to travel extensively as well as become a part of the world music festival circuit in Quebec, she has come to want more.
“You can function and make a living, I’ve discovered, achieve a form of star status within the island of Montreal, tour around Quebec, go to France if you feel like it, and be completely satisfied with your career … but that’s not my interest,” she says.
She has much bigger plans. Fronting Briga, she not only plays violin, but writes original music, arrangements and lyrics, in addition to modernizing traditional Eastern European pieces. She also takes on the relatively new role of vocalist.
“At one point, I just realized that I couldn’t do an album that was all instrumental,” she says. “I myself wouldn’t want to listen to all of it. I realized there’s this amazing power in the human voice.”
Supporting her are Richard Soly, sound designer at Place des Arts, as well as the Canada Council for the Arts, from whom she received a grant for a full length album based on Briga, to be released this fall.
“I don’t think Briga could get the support that it’s getting elsewhere,” she says. “I think that Canada has a very unique take on the musician, on the artist, on the poet … In other parts of the world you have to fight your way. We’re very lucky.”
This encouragement is understandable given the combination of high energy and unspoken intimacy of a Briga show. Audience members and fellow musicians alike have commented that Dajczer seems to transcend reality when onstage—the music seems to move through her.
“When I’m onstage, I’m just so … I’m being,” she says. “And in being, you become what you’re emitting and when you become what you emit, you become the music. For me it’s hard to separate spirituality, sensuality, the most intrinsic form of being that you can find in a higher presence.”
Much like Dajczer herself, Briga’s music moves between zones of reality, hoping to “make the hair rise on your arm,” putting the same spring in your step Dajczer has in her red boots. Briga will warm you up, without the expense of a trip to Cuba. - Rover Arts Magazine

C’est en compagnie de son quatuor de musiciens que la violoniste Briga, alias Brigitte Dajczer, débarquera à Sainte-Geneviève le 12 août prochain. La virtuose du violon s’unit à quatre talentueux artistes, pour offrir un spectacle unique qui célèbre joyeusement les rythmes de l’Europe de l’Est. Le rendez-vous par excellence pour faire place à la danse!
Issue d’une mère Québécoise et d’un père Polonais, Briga est à l’image de sa musique; à la fois simple et colorée, traditionnelle et métissée. Originaire d’Alberta où elle a vécu une grande partie de sa vie, la belle est Montréalaise d’adoption depuis maintenant dix ans et cette transition s’inscrit dans son évolution, tout autant qu’elle se manifeste dans son style et ses compositions. «J’ai été élevée dans une maison où il y avait toujours de la musique traditionnelle des régions de l’Europe de l’Est qui jouait. Cela fait partie intégrante de moi, mais je dirais que je me suis aussi trouvé une identité montréalaise à travers les années, d’où le côté plus fusion de ma musique. Et puis tout le monde vient de quelque part ailleurs au sein du groupe, il y a un Africain, un Algérien… L’idée du métissage, du multiculturalisme est définitivement très présente», sourit Briga.
Un album et une tournée
Entourée de Jérémi Roy à la basse, Marton Maderspach à la batterie, Alix Noël à l’accordéon et au clavier, de même que Tacfarinas Kichou aux percussions, Briga nous réserve un programme qui allie compositions originales et arrangements de pièces traditionnelles roumaines, hongroises, bulgares, russes, ex-yougoslaves et tsiganes. Un assortiment de musiques qui trouvent leur point de rencontre dans le son riche et jazzé. «On retrouve le violon de l’Europe de l’Est dans sa dimension la plus instrumentale, mais ici combiné à différentes influences. J’ai su choisir les bons musiciens pour m’accompagner, la bonne formule pour que la dynamique fonctionne et concorde avec ma démarche personnelle», confie la violoniste, qui se prépare à faire le tour du Québec cette année. «On a été à Montréal tout l’été, mais le but pour 2010 c’est de sortir de la ville pour voyager et aller à la rencontre du public en région, à qui on a bien hâte de présenter le tout premier album, qui sera disponible très bientôt en magasins. J’en apporterai d’ailleurs des exemplaires à Sainte-Geneviève, alors les gens pourront se le procurer en primeur, avant même sa sortie officielle», annonce-t-elle en terminant. Avis aux intéressés, soyez-y mercredi!
Briga sera en spectacle à la Salle Pauline-Julien ce mercredi 12 août, à 19h30. Entrée libre, laissez-passer requis. Infos: 514 626-1616. - Cités Nouvelles

SEE BRIGITTE DAJCZER perform once and her red boots will leave a permanent mark. See her a second time and you just might fall in love. A Montreal-based, world class violinist, she often dances onstage like a child at play; yet, at the same time, she is unmistakably sensual. A member of the Juno-nominated Les Gitans de Sarajevo, she often plays with Geoff Berner (The Whiskey Rabbi) and Michel Donato, to name a few. This Friday, she brings her newest project, Briga, to Café Sarajevo. “I call it gypsy violin in a hotbed of music,” she says. You can call it the perfect antidote to the winter blues.
Dajczer has been developing her “symbiotic relationship” with music since the tender age of four. First came violin lessons, then original compositions by age five. By the time she was 12, she had become a multi-instrumentalist, playing violin, accordion, piano, viola, guitar, flute, and piccolo. Classically trained at the Toronto Conservatory of Music, she learned to improvise by performing in blues bars at the age of 15. While her incredible skill has allowed her to travel extensively as well as become a part of the world music festival circuit in Quebec, she has come to want more.
“You can function and make a living, I’ve discovered, achieve a form of star status within the island of Montreal, tour around Quebec, go to France if you feel like it, and be completely satisfied with your career … but that’s not my interest,” she says.
She has much bigger plans. Fronting Briga, she not only plays violin, but writes original music, arrangements and lyrics, in addition to modernizing traditional Eastern European pieces. She also takes on the relatively new role of vocalist.
“At one point, I just realized that I couldn’t do an album that was all instrumental,” she says. “I myself wouldn’t want to listen to all of it. I realized there’s this amazing power in the human voice.”
Supporting her are Richard Soly, sound designer at Place des Arts, as well as the Canada Council for the Arts, from whom she received a grant for a full length album based on Briga, to be released this fall.
“I don’t think Briga could get the support that it’s getting elsewhere,” she says. “I think that Canada has a very unique take on the musician, on the artist, on the poet … In other parts of the world you have to fight your way. We’re very lucky.”
This encouragement is understandable given the combination of high energy and unspoken intimacy of a Briga show. Audience members and fellow musicians alike have commented that Dajczer seems to transcend reality when onstage—the music seems to move through her.
“When I’m onstage, I’m just so … I’m being,” she says. “And in being, you become what you’re emitting and when you become what you emit, you become the music. For me it’s hard to separate spirituality, sensuality, the most intrinsic form of being that you can find in a higher presence.”
Much like Dajczer herself, Briga’s music moves between zones of reality, hoping to “make the hair rise on your arm,” putting the same spring in your step Dajczer has in her red boots. Briga will warm you up, without the expense of a trip to Cuba. - Rover Arts Magazine