"The Space Between" is the second release by the Oakland-based group Janam. The album includes a mix of colorful originals by band members Juliana Graffagna and Gari Hegedus, and gorgeous traditional and new folk songs from Crete, Romania and the Appalachians. “An innovative ensemble that explores a dizzying range of styles, from Appalachia and Asia Minor to Eastern Europe. They play swirling, hard-driving music that always seems to end up in unexpected places.” SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Janam (My Soul) blends Balkan and American roots and original music, creating rapturous acoustic textures, whirling rhythms and stunning vocal harmonies. Led by Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble veteran vocalist and music director Juliana Graffagna, Janam unites some of the Bay Area's most playful and imaginative devotees of Balkan, Near Eastern music and Appalachian music, who weave together Eastern exoticism, gritty mountain melodies and their own colorful compositions. Formed in 2008, the group is a tight-knit ensemble of talented multi-instrumentalists who create a unique sonic landscape of crystalline strings, dissonant vocal harmonies and sultry rhythms. Janam has garnered recognition throughout California and the Northwest, playing to mesmerized audiences and frenzied folk dancers in venues as diverse as Yoshi’s San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara Multicultural Center, Café du Nord, Ashkenaz and the de Young Museum. Janam proves that the foothills of the Balkans and the Appalachians lie in Oakland. The group’s funky meters, bittersweet modes, driving tunes, and sultry ballads invoke the nightingales and dark eyes, the hot love and cold hollows of Europe and America’s most musical mountains. Janam features: Juliana Graffagna ~ vocals, accordion Dan Auvil ~ percussion, kaval Tom Farris ~ laouto, guitar, accordion Gari Hegedus ~ oud, saz, mandocello, violin Lila Sklar ~ violin, vocals The Space Between features performances by guest musicians Dan Cantrell (bells, throat singing), Eric Perney (bass) and Myles Boisen (lap steel guitar).