Aliaksandr Yasinski / Hlybini

Accordionist Aliaksandr Yasinski has that rare talent of playing without stylistic limitations, throwing caution to the wind and challenging one’s perception of the instrument. The album title “Hlybini” means “depths” in his native Belarusian language and in his words represents the “far corners of the human soul or something that touches us powerfully like music.” Across these ten original compositions, Aliaksandr unfolds his personal story & unlocks the seemingly limitless expressive potential of the instrument that he began learning at the age of eight.

Long opposed to the political stance of his homeland, Aliaksandr has lived in the thriving musical hotspot that is Prague for over 11 years. Despite this, he still retains a strong musical connection with traditional Belarussian music which continues to be a source of great inspiration. Now 33, this debut solo international release sees Aliaksandr invite the listener on his musical journey to date, which he describes as an “adventure through Belarus and other countries, through storm and calmness, light and dark, tragedy and happiness - but always sincerely, with an open heart.”

The deeply moving and somewhat surreal ‘Waltz in A’ sees Aliaksandr harness the capabilities of the Bayanola MB-1, a button accordion MIDI-controller. As he explains, “Its unique layout of buttons allows musicians to play faster and get wider chords than is possible with the piano - very attractive for accordion players like me who want to find new musical languages.” There are further experimental forays with the sublime ‘In Freedom and Dignity’, where he teams up with the Swedish guitarist Roine Stolt and German drummer Marco Minnemann for something of a jazz fusion extravaganza.

Whether he’s performing as part of a collaborative musical project or solo, Aliaksandr’s style is imbued with a sense of expressive, yet structured freedom. This is a result of his rigorous grounding as a student (Belarusian State Academy of Music, Prague Conservatory and Academy of Performing Arts) coupled with his experience playing myriad musical styles, be it classical, rock, electronic, jazz, Argentinian tango, Balkan or music for film & theatre. Hlybini showcases all of these elements and much more.