VJOLA: THE WORLD ON FOUR STRINGS - LJOVA
An album of solo viola music doesn’t usually grab the spotlight. But this self-released debut recording from 28-year-old Russian-born Lev Zhurbin (aka Ljova), one of New York’s fastest-rising composers and instrumentalists, is something special. Using his rich-voiced viola as his multitracked and quick-witted medium, Ljova weaves together diverse elements from around the world to create surprising yet organic textures in mostly original material (save Bjork’s “Army of Me” and a traditional Romanian tune). From the honky-tonk drawl of “Coffee & Rum” to the Cuban son of “Bagel on the Malecon” to the Balkan slides of “Middle Village,” Ljova continually delights. Billboard
