A fresh new project of the Hannover-based singer, Thea Soti and three jazz
musicians, who combine musical tradition of Hungary with the taste of Middle-East.
Longing for the roots of melody and rhythm, constantly on search for the ancient
energy of music.

The name of the band, “NaNaya” refers to the most commonly heard improvisational phrase
of the gypsies used to sing to the rhythm without lyrics, like “nanaya-ayna-nayna”. The
Hungarian singer, Thea Soti merges folk songs of her home with jazz and world music,
completing it with the oriental sound of the oud of Daniel S. Scholz. Her compositions and
arrangements guide the audience to an unknown world where conventional structures of the
occidental music tradition dissolve and will be challenged to receive an individually defined
form. The listener will at once be left alone in the mountains of the Carpathians or on the
shore of the Mediterranean Sea, where only the deepest instinctive and intuitive powers
count. The simultaneously archaic and modern songs of the quartet build exactly on this
fragile emotional labyrinth during the concerts. The band is supported by Johannes Keller on
double-bass and Jonas Pirzer on drums and percussion.

NaNaya is a longing for the roots of melody and rhythm: story-telling, clapping, dancing and
confessing through singing. The finely collected motives and melodies get reinterpreted in a
new modern context, where intimacy, spontaneity and honesty play the central role.