We formed our band at the beginning of 2004 with a purpose of playing pure acoustic music inspired by “cross-cultural” traditions and forgotten heritage of old folk instruments. As we all have different backgrounds and our musical experience is different, our music might be perceived as a blend of ethnic, classical, folk and contemporary forms. Yet all our songs are originals and we are not playing pure traditional music, but rather a natural “fusion” of what we know about music with what we feel about it. Moreover, a very important inspiration comes to us from folklore, mythology and legends of Europe, Middle-East, Asia and other parts of the world.

Our ensemble is a combination of typical classical instruments like guitars or clarinet, with ancient and medieval ones like hurdy-gurdy (organistrum), Turkish saz, black sea kemence, lute, and ocarina. We truly believe that sounds played this way will find many listeners among those who are still seeking for music to be closer to their hearts and minds...

Please feel free to visit our band's websites: www.mp3.com.au/umanee & http://umanee.cjb.net

Best regards

Peter Novotnik & Umanee