Detailierte Künstler Informationen: Yulara

Once, long ago, emotion, groove and soul were integral components of many forms of popular music. Then the 80s happened, followed rather forgettably by the 90s, and music underwent a radical transformation: Emotion was either buried under the mechanized forms of metal, rap, hip hop, and techno, or subverted by the schmaltz of power ballads and smooth jazz. Purveyors of pure musical passion were few and far between. What was a poor soul/groove fan to do?

One can imagine keyboardist Robert Matt and flutist/saxophonist Annie Hilsberg asking themselves that very question when the Berlin natives met in 1991. Finding common ground in their ideas and approach, they decided to cast their musical futures together and in 1992 formed Yulara, named for an obscure Australian village rich with spiritual echoes of the past and future. The word Yulara actually translates as "the howling of the dingos".

With their first recording, All is One, they laid down the template for a new sound, blending elements of jazz, funk, dance music, ambient grooves and sampled nature sounds into an organic fusion. They refined and expanded upon that approach with their follow-up recording, Cosmic Tree, which explored the interconnectedness between people, animals and the natural world. With their new CD, Future Tribe, Yulara continues further down the path to bring people of different cultures together through the power of music.

At first listen, some might call this world jazz, what with its multi-faceted mix of styles. But Yulara's music stubbornly resists labeling. "We don't make music to fit one format," says Robert. "We just make what feels good to us, and it just happens to be a mixture of different things and influences from world music, jazz, ambient, trance and dance music. We don't pay much attention to whether we fit a genre or not. What matters is whether our music expresses what we like to hear."

By fusing different sounds from different cultures, Matt and Hilsberg have made Yulara into a kind of global village in which, as Robert's says, "There is a hut for everyone."

The foundation of the Yulara sound is based on the Duo's compositions, around which Matt then builds danceable grooves with keyboards, drum programming and samples. "Some tunes begin with the melodies that Annie creates, plus the really round, special tones she is able to produce," says Robert. "I have the feeling when I hear her playing that it's more than music, and this is what we're striving for, to get this extra vision."

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