OMFO

(Odessa, 1966) plays folk music, combining electronics with authentic instruments from all corners of the globe: from the two-string dombra from Kazachstan to the nej, a Turkish flute. In addition he is an accomplished throat singer. OMFO stands for Our Man From Odessa and is the brainchild of German Popov who in 1989 moved from Odessa to Amsterdam in order to enjoy the freedom that was to be found there then. In the quintet he now performs with, Fay Lovsky plays amongst others the musical saw and the theremin, the only musical instrument played without being touched. According to Fay Lovsky Popov’s knowlegde of oriental music is phenomenal. For his CDs he travelled to remote regions in Kazachstan to the Carpathians in order to record indigenous music. OMFO’s repertoire takes tearjerkers from countries around the Black Sea as a point of departure, but enters into cross-overs with Arab influences, pop, jazz and Far Eastern sounds.