The Ambrose Bierce Collection of World Music

Boarischer Tanzbodn (Bavarian Dancefloor)
Live mit den Well-Buam
Trikont 0183-2, 1991






TrackList:

01. Maxglaner
02. Vogl Greif
03. Krebspolka
04. Mazurka
05. Topporzer Kreuzpolka
06. Zwieslerwinklboarischer
07. Landler links
08. Oide Kath
09. Circassian Circle
10. Scheißmützenwalzer
11. Petronella
12. Kuckuckspolka
13. Schwedische Maskerade
14. Eisenkeilnest
15. Woidhansl
16. Flaschlwischabolero

Recorded live at Weilachmühle, Thalhausen, June 1, 1991

Albert Well - clarinet
Karl Well - clarinet
Michael Well - baritone, tuba
Werner Well - double bass
Christoph Well - trumpet
Max Lang - accordion
Franz Eimer - harp
Hermann & Hans Well - dance masters

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Robert Zollitsch
Zwiefach
Oriente Music RIEN CD 31, 2000




TrackList:

01. Zwielicht
02. A scheen Roas
03. Traurige Gschicht
04. Tulipan
05. Der Krieg und der Frieden
06. Nordsicht
07. Jodler Nr. 7
08. Zwiefacher Nr. 3
09. Waldbad
10. Sein wie er
11. Pagadyrin
12. Die Freude
13. Sandzeit

Robert Zollitsch - zither, vocal, percussion


The CD is an example of creative German world music: An incredible mix of Bavarian and German lyrics, throat-singing and yodeling, expressive and virtuoso instrumental music.
320 kbps mp3; cover scans in b/w only - sorry, I haven't got the original booklet.




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Die besten Schrammeln. Instrumental
Gefunden von Roland Jos. Leop. Neuwirth, Wien
Trikont US-0233, 1997




TrackList:

01. Pepi Schrammelquartett Wichart - Hallo, Da San Mir Munter (Marsch) [02:44]
02. Harmonika & Schrammelbegleitung - Dornbacher Ländler [02:33]
03. Waldschnepfen-Terzett - Alt-Wiener Tänze, 1.Teil [02:44]
04. Waldschnepfen-Terzett - Alt-Wiener Tänze, 2.Teil [03:03]
05. Original Trocadero-Ensemble - Dornbacher Hetz-Marsch [02:38]
06. Original Maxim Quartett - Schnoffler-Tanz [02:55]
07. Waldschnepfen-Terzett - Kürmeyer-Marsch [02:36]
08. Violinduett mit Klavierbegleitung - Schleuderer-Tänze [02:28]
09. Original Wiener Trio - Wienerwald-Ländler [02:40]
10. Lanner-Quartett Trocadero - Heurigen-Tanz [02:52]
11. Original Wiener Piccolo-Duett - Wiener Heurigen Tanz [02:59]
12. ZitherQuartett Rupp-Krause - Galanterie-Tänze, Wiener Tanz [03:03]
13. Strohmayer-Kemeter Harmonika - Mizzi Starecek-Marsch [02:54]
14. Original Wiener Schrammel Quartett "Linz" - Mass-Wein-Tanz [02:50]
15. Original Wiener Volksmusik - Wiener Walzer-Potpourri 1.Teil [02:19]
16. Original Wiener Volksmusik - Wiener Walzer-Potpourri 2.Teil [02:45]
17. Rudi Harmonika Strohmayer - Slibowitz-Tanz [02:32]
18. Brüder Mikulas - Schmalhofer-Tanz Altwiener Tanz [03:22]
19. Lanner-Quartett - Lanner Walzer-Potpourrie, 1. Teil & 2. Teil [05:38]
20. Quartett Lenz - Weaner Tanz (part 1) [02:41]
21. Quartett Lenz - Weaner Tanz (part 2) [02:38]
22. Neuwirth Extremschrammeln - A Tanz Für'n Franz [02:27]
23. Neuwirth Extremschrammeln - Bb-Tanz [04:38]
24. Neuwirth Extremschrammeln - City-Rama [04:38]


Compiled by Roland Neuwirth, this is a superb collection of rare instrumentals by the great masters of the genre. In a recording from early this century you can even hear Anton Strohmayer who was guitarist in the original Schrammel Brothers trio. Real star dust!

"Schrammelmusik" is addictive. It's like oil in the veins. Only two violins, a button accordion and a contraguitar is needed, but they must play the old dances: not the watered down stuff offered to bus-loads of tourists every day in the noisy wine bars of Grinzing. Good music doesn't prostitute itself. Good music must be searched for. It can only grow in silence. The soaring notes of the violins, which are soft and gentle even in the highest register, mingle with the vlevet harmonies of the squeeze-box and with the dry bass of the contraguitar, a Viennese specially with two necks. Originally the accordion part was played by a small clarinet but by the late nineteenth century this was already a rarity. In 1878 two classically trained violin players. The Schrammel brothers, being short of money, founded a trio with guitarist Anton Strohmayer called "Die Nußdorfer" after the suburb of Vienna where they performed. Following their success many similar bands formed and taverns (Heurigen) where the local wine was drunk became their venues. Despite its origins in rural dance music "Schrammelmusik" was never danced to. It was the opposite: the audience came only to sit and listen.

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Thundering Dragon. Percussion Music from China
Wergo SM 1519-2, 1994






TrackList:

01. Drum Poem
02. Heavenly Fireworks
03. Gongs And Drums Of The Peking Opera
04. Small Drums For Measuring Time
05. Squabbling Ducks
06. A Tiger Sharpens Its Teeth
07. Joy
08. Ox Fights Tiger
09. Falling Walnuts
10. Golden Pheasants Fly Down From The Mountains
11. Incessantly Growing Dragon And Leaping Tiger

Recorded live at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, November 6, 1993

Li Zhengui - percussion
Tian Xin - percussion
Wang Jianhua - percussion
Sun Yue - percussion
Li Shuo - percussion


Bells, drums, and stones are found among the earliest archeological founds of musical instruments. Since second millennium B.C.E. percussion instruments have been used in China in religious, court, and popular music. Pure percussion music soon followed. The percussion music of Thundering Dragon (with five hundred instruments in all, including bamboo, wood, bronze, iron, and elephant-foot drums, gongs with voices of winds, tigers, and dogs, and bells and rattles), which builds primarily on the traditional popular music of China, combines depiction of nature with humor and virtuosity.

In hearing a CD of percussion music from China, it is difficult to avoid comparing it with Japanese percussion music, thinking of such groups as Kodo or Ondekoza. There are obvious similarities, but differences as well. One simple yet obvious difference is a cymbal which has a unique and typically Chinese sound (heard first on track four). One other difference is that Chinese percussion is not as dynamic and energetic as Japanese percussion, at least on this CD. This being said, the character of this Chinese percussion music is typical, alive, highly entertaining, dramatic, and even delightful and very expressive. An excellent CD. ~ Bruno Deschênes

The traditional and original percussion music on this CD go places where western avant-garde percussion music has often tried for but rarely succeeded in reaching. Using percussion neither as a repetative dance rhythm nor as a way to escape the confines of both the tonal and 12-tone system, the music on this CD is both narrative and highly visual (the titles are often specific visual scenes that the music represents). This is done in sophisticated but accessible music that is friendly to the ear but also engaging to the mind. Some highlights includes "A Tiger Sharpens it Teeth" and "Squabbling Ducks". This has been an inspirational CD for me that finds its way into my player over and over again.

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Moneim Adwan
Il etait une fois en Palestine
Accords Croisés AC 111, 2005






TrackList:

01. Law Ani Moughani (Si j'etais chanteur) (If I Were a Singer) (5:17)
02. Seb'a Nejmat (Sept Etoiles) (Seven Stars) (5:10)
03. Chat el Bahr (Le bord de mer) (By the Sea) (7:27)
04. Ana Darwiche (Je suis le derviche) (I Am a Dervish) (6:20)
05. Saher al Hawa (Amour ensorcelant) (Bewitching Love) (7:35)
06. Douzeni (Harmonie) (Harmony) (8:39)
07. Qalb (Coeur) (Heart) (5:48)
08. Waqfou Soufouf (Mise en rang) (Sequence) (5:55)

Moneim Adwan - vocals, 'ud
Mahran Moreb - kanun
Safwan Kenani - violin
Youssef Hebeisch - percussion
Adel Shams Eddine - percussion
El Sayed Shaban - ney, kawala


C'est à Rafah, dans la bande de Gaza prés de la frontière égyptienne, que vit Moneim Adwan, chanteur et joueur de oud (sorte de luth). Il est difficile de résister aux émotions diffusées par sa voix qui, pour aller vite, n'est pas sans rappeler celle de Cheb Mami. Tous deux ont en partage cette saisissante aisance à monter vers les aigus. Accompagné d'un ensemble constitué d'un kanun, d'un violon, d'une flûte ney et de percussions, Moneim Adwan emploie ses très sensibles cordes vocales à servir des textes de poètes palestiniens contemporains. Ils expriment l'amour, la beauté des choses, bref tout ce qui apaise et incite à espérer vivre des jours meilleurs. En lançant de tels vers, cet artiste atteint plus sûrement le cÅ“ur et l’âme de ses auditeurs que s’il usait des canons de la propagande. Moneim Adwan appartient Ã* cette courageuse confrérie d’artistes qui tissent des liens au lieu de les couper. On l’a par exemple entendu aux côtés de Françoise Atlan dans un répertoire mêlant chants spirituels musulmans et juifs séfarades. Ce rapprochement n’est pas illogique. La musique palestinienne, constituée Ã* la base d’airs inventés par des bergers et de petits agriculteurs, a en effet été soumise Ã* de multiples influences venues de tout le monde méditerranéen. Les uns ont légué un mode, d’autres une ornementation ou une figure de style, tout cela se mélangeant aux traditions bédouines et aux répertoires savants des grandes villes arabes de l’intérieur des terres. C’est de ce creuset que surgit le lyrisme fervent de Moneim Adwan qui, avec ce premier album édité sous son nom, s’impose comme un artiste avec lequel il va falloir compter.

De nos jours dans les bacs des disquaires de Palestine on trouve de nombreux enregistrements composés autour de l’actualité qui rythme la vie des Palestiniens depuis 50 ans.
Moneim Adwan a choisi de sortir de cette vision politique de la musique pour proposer une autre musique, un horizon plus élevé, dans un style oriental moderne.
« Il était une fois en Palestine » a été composé comme une série de petites chroniques musicales où l'artiste prend la place d'un conteur qui fait apparaître les souvenirs du passé, du présent et de l’avenir. Dans cette suite de petites fictions, les clichés réducteurs qui accompagnent la vision des « Palestiniens » sont mis en défaut car on y rencontre des gens comme les autres qui aiment l'amour, la paix et qui ne désirent que « retrouver le calme bonheur de l'odeur du pain fait Ã* la maison ».
Moneim Adwan a proposé Ã* des poètes de lui écrire des textes aussi riches et divers les uns que les autres, qu’il a arrangés et orchestrés avec des musiciens palestiniens, arabes israéliens et égyptiens. Les improvisations du ney et du oud soulignent que dans ce territoire Ã* l’avenir et au présent incertain, la plus belle des musiques est celle que l’on crée dans l’instant pour vivre dans l’esprit de la musique…

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Musiko Polytropo (dir. Iannis Kaimakis)
The Cycle Of Life
l'empreintre digitale ED 13105, 1999






TrackList:

01. Come Now and Sleep My Child
02. Come Now and Sleep My Child
03. Little Lamb
04. Come, Sleep, Who Takes the Children
05. Come, Sleep, Who Takes the Children
06. Swallow Came
07. Shining Little Moon
08. My Darling Partridge
09. Earth and Sea Split Open
10. I Told You, Mother
11. My Boy, If You Wish to Marry
12. Silver Urn
13. Red Apple
14. At the Priest's Windows
15. Spearmint and Basil
16. Would I Could See
17. Three Ships
18. Three Cretan Monks
19. Black Swallow
20. Double Flute
21. Nine Pilgrims Set Out
22. Little White Boat
23. Bird Sounds
24. Look at Our Beautiful Garden

320kbps mp3, including full 44-page trilingual (Greek - English - French) booklet


Musiko Polytropo is a mixed choir of music students from Aristotle University directed by Iannis Kaimakis. On this collection of folk music from Greece and Macedonia, they perform lullabies, children's songs, love songs, wedding songs, and laments. Starkly augmented by ney or other wind instruments, the songs are usually performed in the style known as isocrates where the lead voices are accompanied by a background drone consisting of vocalists using one or two notes. The style is ancient, its roots in Byzantine church music.
The recording is excellent, allowing us to hear the overtones around each note. Like most of the Middle Eastern ancient music, meters are determined by the accentuation of words. Where there are clear rhythms, they are the 5/4, 7/8 and 9/8 rhythms that are typical of the running step/hop Balkan dance music. The excellent liner notes (in Greek, French and English) provide background and translation of the songs. In live performance, "The Cycle of Life" is done as a whole show including movement and dance. Greece is a country whose folk music is largely unknown outside of a few academic specialists, so album is important for its role in illuminating its rich folk heritage. - Aaron Howard

Greek folk music is a mosaic. The Cycle of like presents folk songs and includes lullabies, nursery rhymes, wedding songs, songs about lost love and immigration, funeral odes, hymns to the rebirth and renewal of life. The members of Musiko Polytropo are students from the music deparment of Aristotle University in Thessalonica. The vocal ensemble was created and led by Iannis Kaimakis, a musician and musicologist whose specialties are traditional and medieval music of the Meditteranean Basin.





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Ulman
Vibes
Heideck/Löwenzahn HD 20065, 2006






TrackList:

01. Farmors Brudpolska
02. Filz
03. Strange Lines
04. Quann Cy Mûl Mouche
05. E-Tabou
06. Loola
07. Bordun House
08. Pam 7
09. Fiddle Execution
10. I'm So Sorry
11. Gehübung
12. Popsong
13. Bad Vibes/Wild Vibes

Till Uhlmann - hurdy gurdy, violin, samples
Andreas Uhlmann - trombone, flutes, samples
Johannes Uhlmann - diatonic accordion, viola
Uli Stornowski - ulman-drums

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Vranisht
Kenge polifonike läbe
daquÃ* 332018, 2003




TrackList:

01. Me se ta hodha sevdane
02. Minushe me state nure
03. Ago, Ago, Ymer Ago
04. Mélodi me fyell
05. Doli Bejka nga katundi
06. Janines ç’i pane syte
07. Kam qene sevdalli per kenge
08. Po vjen lumi trubullo
09. Vogelushe, Vogelo
10. Mélodi me cule dyjare
11. Pret rroba Janak kauri
12. Kur vije zallit perpjete
13. O Djale I nenes I Djale
14. Te shkembi qe punon bleta
15. Ate nate s’kishe dale hena
16. Do filloj duke menduar
17. C’u keput nje kembi mali

Nazif Celaf - Vocals
Arap Celoleskaj - Vocals
Nikolin Likaj - Vocals
Teki Kanani - Vocals
Lavdosh Shkurtaj - Vocals
Muhamet "Meti" Tartari Vocals
Arjan Kasanlliu - Vocals

Kenge Polifonike Läbe, performed by the vocal group Vranisht, presents the wonders of Albanian polyphony, recorded live at a French festival. The Albanian polyphonic vocal style is very much a living tradition, partly as a result of the old regimes ideological promotion of authentic folklore to “define the national and communist identity.â€� The singers are workers from two villages in the mountainous Southwest of the country, Vranisht and Lapardha, where their proverb states, “one traveler is alone, two argue but three sing!â.

In Albania's extreme southwest, the Labs region, a complex style of unaccompanied singing has evolved using a counterpoint of tonalities, and it’s been beautifully captured and recorded at a live concert for the CD, Vranisht: Kenge Polofonike Läbe.
There is a saying there that goes, ‘One traveller is alone, two argue, but three sing!’ And this singing style is alive and well in the small mountain towns of Vranisht and Lapardha, where the singers, who work as farmers, shepherds, tradesmen, shopkeepers and teachers during the day, gather at night to sing. The vocal combination of a lead singer with a counter lead, a drone and another voice that warbles and flutters is quite unlike anything else you’ve heard.

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Hamid Khezri
Le dotar du Khorassan
VDE-GALLO VDE CD-1170, 2005






TrackList:

01. Nasihat (maqâm)
02. Leyli O Leylâne (tarâne)
03. Ayla Ayesh (maqâm)
04. Fati Jân (tarâne)
05. Jeblaq, Dust Mohammad (maqâm)
06. Ata Margân Shekartchi (maqâm)
07. Navâ'i (maqâm)
08. Gerayli (maqâm)
09. Sakine (tarâne)
10. Jajoh Khân (tarâne)
11. Fatme Jân (tarâne)
12. Armana Susey (tarâne)
13. Shâh Yuli (maqâm)


Hamid Khezri, dotar player and singer, is renowned as a versatile musician equally at home in a wide range of musical styles ranging from the folk music of his North Khorassan home, the Sufi music of the South Khorassan deserts and the troubadour traditions of the mountains of North Khorassan to original compositions and a variety of cross-over projects. Whether as a soloist or as a member of various ensemble, he always excels by his virtuosity, high musicality, strong and varied rhythms and moving melodies. Hamid Khezri was born in 1969 in Quchan, the musical centre of North Khorassan Persia. He learned to play the dotar, the most important instrument of the region, and went to study with the great masters of that two-stringed long-necked lute, such as Haji Hossein Yeganeh, Golafruz and Hamrah Bakhshi. Engaging in music-ethnological research, he became familiar with the various traditions and playing techniques not only from the north but also from the south of the province. Owing to his deep knowledge of the music and firmly rooted in tradition, Hamid Khezri was able to develop a playing technique of his own. He thus created his own highly unique style of playing the dotar. Hamid Khezri has toured the US, Canada and Europe together with prominent artists. He currently lives in Germany.

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Chen Xiaoyang / Ou Huihong
Orchidee. Traditional Chinese Zheng And Qin Music
Wergo SM 1603-2, 1992






TrackList:

01. Embroidering brocade (zheng)
02. Longing for an old friend (qin)
03. Wild geese land on the shore (zheng)
04. Parting at Yang-guan (qin)
05. Lotus (zheng)
06. Rain at night (zheng)
07. Cheerful evening (qin)
08. Autumn wind (qin)
09. Wild geese at the beach (qin)
10. Jackdaw plays at the water (zheng)
11. High mountains, flowing water (zheng)
12. Fisherman's song at sunset (zheng)
13. Lonesome orchid (qin)

Xiaoyong Chen - qin
Huihong Ou - zheng


Traditional Chinese thought sees the universe as a single, living system, all of whose parts influence each other. In the same way all expressions of human culture are woven into the structure of the cosmos and into all life processes. That applies to music as well, in a very special way. The instruments qin - a kind of zither that original had five strings (corresponding to the five basic elements in Chinese philosophy), a ritual instrument - and zheng - a twenty-one-stringed arched zither - are masterfully played by two musicians from mainland China, Xiaoyong Chen and Huihong Ou, in this selection of traditional Chinese music.

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Ensemble Khan Bogd
Magtaal - Höömij, Vol. 2
Face Music FM 50044, 2005



[IMG]http://i36.*******.com/14xi9f9.jpg[/IMG]


TrackList:

01. Höömijiin Khelkee Ayalguu - Praising Song for King Manduul 5:16
02. Ikh Ezen Bogd Chingiss Khaan - Praising Song for King Genghis 20:19
03. Dörvön Oirdiin Uria - Praising Song for the Tribe of the Oird 9:15
04. Jargalant Altai Magtaal - Praising Song of This Mountain in the Mongolia Altai 3:27
05. Setgemj - Four Mountains in Ulaanbaatar - Höömij 2:31
06. Höömijn Törluud - Hömij Variation 1:55
07. Elstiin Gangad Nutag - Höömij from Western Mongolia 3:16
08. Zakhchin-tatlaga - Dance Melody from Western Mongolia 2:34
09. Gal Shargiin Unaga - Praising Song of the Golf of Gal Sharga with the Best Horses 6:38
10. Khan Bogd Magtaal - Praising Song for All of Our Khan Bogd 11:35

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It is devoted as well to two types of songs, the magtaal or praise song, and demonstrations of various styles of höömij throat singing. The praise songs include one dedicated to the man known in the West as Genghis Khan, here called Chingiss Khaan. Some of these songs are long, up to nine minutes as on track 3, a song in praise for the tribe of the Oird -- this one is a whole suite of mini-songs in different tempos and many styles of throat singing.
The rhythms and melodies on this disc sound as though they're influenced by other forms from around the world, but I'm pretty sure they're not. Nevertheless, one of the sections of the Oird praise song sounds Scandinavian, another dedicated to a mountain named Jargalant sounds like a one-chord blues with a near-rock beat, and yet another, "Setgemj" or four mountains, sounds for all the world like Mongolian doo-wop! Another song from western Mongolia has both male and female voices and is in three-four time. The final track is 11 minutes long in many sections, including spoken prayers, lots of shamanic rattles and drums, the full instrumental ensemble and many voices, in praise of their homeland, spiritual and temporal rulers and artists of the past, and Buddhism.
As with all of these recordings from Face Music, the liner notes are quite good, including translations of the songs and an explanation of the instruments, vocal styles and the country's history and geography. Quite impressive. And again, considering the youth of the musicians, musically impressive as well.

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Rahala
Enshaallah
United One 402 4569 2008 2, 1996




TrackList:

01. C'est la Vie
02. Seven 4 Mal
03. Falak
04. You My Love
05. M. Sea
06. Hope (Enshaallah)
07. Free Aere
08. Moharam
09. Khalek Beid

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Hosam Shaker (kanoun) from Cairo and Michael Wehmeyer (keyboards) from Berlin started a new band project in the fall of 1996. Rahala is a conglomeration of arabic and german musicians. Their music takes us through dense atmospheric pieces which on one hand have influences in oriental music and on the other, lean towards european jazz.

Rahala is an Egyptian-German co-production of Hosam Shaker and Michael Wehmeyer with five Egyptian and five German musicians. It's the first Worldjazz-group that boasts kanun, muzmar and rababa and ventures into the juxtaposition of many influences from all directions.
Hosam Shaker (kanun) studied music at the age of fourteen at the Egyptian Academy of Arts in Cairo, obtaining his Master's Degree" in 1989. He led the "Arabic Sextett" of the Cairo Opera, performing in Japan, Korea and Europe. Formerly a member of the World music Group "Sharkiat", Hosam played with Roman Bunka's "Color me Cairo" at the 1994 Berlin Jazz Festival. He was honored as one of the finest musicians in the Middle East. Today, Hosam runs the Egyptian Institut for Folk Instruments and Heritage in Cairo and, since the beginning of 1998, he has been performing with the Trio and Quartet Rahala.
Michael Wehmeyer (p, keyboard, frame-drum) grew up under the musical and personal influences of Mal Waldron, Christian Burchard and Roman Bunka. For 14 years, he traveled with the legendary group "Embryo" in Europe, India, Africa and Arabia, playing with the "Karnataka College of Percussion" (India), the "Yoruba DunDun Orchestra" (Nigeria), Paramashivam Pillar, Ramesh Shottam (both India), and Alan Blairman, Charlie Mariano (both USA). He was also co-founder of the group Dissidenten. Currently, Michael composes soundtracks for film, television and theater and established the projects, "Ethnic Affairs" and "Rahala." Since late 1997, Michael Wehmeyer is also a member of "Kirit" and is in the throes of finishing his first solo CD.

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Embryo & Yoruba Dun Dun Orchester
Schneeball CD 26, 1989






TrackList:

01. Welt-Ab-Originale
02. Aye-Aye
03. Bata Solo
04. Mix III
05. Just Landed
06. Dun Dun Solo I
07. Dschamilua
08. Dun Dun Solo
09. A-Ara-E-Che-Kalo
10. Sawaba Beat
11. Laye Olu Gban

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The name Embryo conjures up the birth of a new trend in fusion. Originating in the exciting Munich scene from the late sixties, Embryo was actualty formed in 1969 by percussionist Christian Burchard who had previously been member of another seminal band, Amon Düül II, and who was currently working with pianist Mal Waldron. Reminiscing about the spirit of the moment, Burchard declared: "(Amon Düül) had this three room apartment and were living with 15 people. They called me up and said: "Come on over! We're doing something new!" You know, l went there, and they said: "We've burnt all of our jazz LP's - we have nothing to do with jazz", and they played me what was new (also for my ears at that time): Hendrix, Cream, Hapshash". Alongside other Underground musicians (many of them with a similar jazzy background), Burchard had the vision of a band with a very definite aim: "to work collectively, intuitively, and let the music evolve of its own".
The initial core of the band was made up by Burchard (drums, piano, percussion, vocals), Edgar Hofmann (sax, violin, vocats), Ralph Fisher (bass, organ, voice), ex Ten Years After member John Kelly (guitar, vocals), and several occasional collaborators. During their first period, stretching from 1969 to 1972, while going through constant changes of line-up, Embryo released three albums. The first of them, "Opal", is still considered their masterpiece. Featuring Lothar Meid on bass, "Opal" was released on the legendary Ohr Musik label (headmast of the progressive German rock of the moment), and featured an inventive, freaky sound with an intriguing jazzy twist. The band's follow-up was "Embryo's Rache" (1971), a surprising album which set the unique Embryo sound, "often dynamic and riffing, with ethnic touches and Edgar Hofmann's expressive sax, hypnotic and complex music". "Embryo's Rache" featured the political "Espagna Si, Franco Mo", a song that led to the cancellation of their planned 1972 Spanish tour due to pressure from the Fascist dictatorship then ruling Spain. Over the next eight months Embryo recorded three albums, but two of them would not appear until much later, as the band's current label, United Artists chose to release only their more "commercial" disc "Father, Son, and Holy Ghosts", a record that showed a more condensed and accesible style.
A key development in Embryo's history happened when veteran Saxophone player Charlie Mariano was introduced to the band. In Burchard's own words: "Charlie paid us a visit, stayed with us, and we had a jam. The musical communication between us worked, so that as a logical consequence we played concerts together... Of course it was a big surprise for us, because we thought Charlie Mariano was a size too big for us!" The addition of Mariano led to the release of "We Keep On" (1973) for the BASF label, a very fine album that showed Embryo in an unusual quartet format also featuring Burchard, Roman Bunka, and Dieter Miekautsch. "We Keep On" was the record that broke Embryo around the world.
Their two following albums, "Surfin"' (1974) and "Bad Heads & Bad Cats" (1975), were fine recordings but a mite too commercial for Christian Burchard. Annoyed at what he saw as their label's manipulating schemes, in 1976 he embarked on an extensive trip to India alongside the rest of the band. During several months, the Embryo crew travelled through the northern regions of this country, getting to know and experimenting with different local musicians. One of them was Bombay singer Shoba Gurtu, who collaborated in the recording of their following project, the controversial "Apo Calypso" (1977).
In 1978 Embryo embarked an ambitious touring performance and recording trip to the Middle East via Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. The trip lasted nearly two years and was documented on hundreds of hours of tape. As a result of this journey, the band released "Embryo's Reise" (1979), a document on their experiences in Asia, a pioneering effort in the addition of ethnic elements into rock, and a sample of exciting live and studio recordings. After releasing the weird, world music-inspired "Life!" (1980), the band kept wandering through Asia, the Middle East and Egypt. During 1980-1982, the Embryo tours featuring Indian musicians enjoyed tremendous success. Particularly renowned was the concert the band offered at the Opera Theatre in Beirut alongside the Yoruba Dun Dun ensemble. Amongst the albums from this period, the double LP "La Blama Sparozzi" (1982) particu-larly manages to capture the magical essence of their ethnic crossover.
After endless changes in their lineup, in 1984 Embryo recorded their first studio album in seven years: "Zack Gluck", an almost instrumental LP in which the old classic Embryo style is fused together with lots of new elements. Now touring Africa, the band became deeply involved with Nigeria's Yoruba Dun Dun Ensemble. As product of their col-laboration with this African orchestra, Embryo released two intriguing albums: "Yoruba Dun Dun Orchestra" (1985) and "Africa" (1985). Celebrating twenty years of Embryo, "Turn Peace" (1989) offered additional surprises, proving that Burchard and crew were still willing to try new ideas while still recreating the music they originally set out with. "Ibn Battuta" (1994) stepped back to the elements in "Zack Gluck", but with a much more spacey ethnic feel. Embryo is still going on strong, constantly surprising with their innovations, proving to be the only Krautrock band to have stuck to their ideals over 25 years whilst always moving on. - Jordi Soley

320 kbps mp3, including full booklet scans





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Mohammad-Rezâ Ebrâhimi
Sanâ. 'Ud Solo Playing
Mahoor Institut of Culture and Art M.CD-241, 2007






TrackList:

01. Pishdarâmad-e Homâyun
02. Chand-Zarbi-e Homâyun
03. Âvâz in Darâmad
04. Piece in Bayât-e Râje
05. Modulation to Shur and Dashti
06. Zarbi-e Dashti
07. Piece in Shur
08. Modulation to Chahârgâh
09. Hafti-Zarbi-e Chahârgâh
10. Modulation to Homâyun
11. Piece in Homâyun
12. Moqaddame-ye Segâh
13. Piece in Segâh
14. Âvâz-e Muye
15. Reng-e Segâh

320 kbps mp3, including full booklet scans




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Hossein Alizadeh
Radif Navâzi. Radif of Mirzâ Abdollâh According to Nur-Ali Borumand
Mahoor Institut of Culture and Art M.CD-237, 2007




TrackList:

CD 1
01.-37. Dastgâh-e Shur
37.-47. Âvâz-e Abu'atâ

CD 2
01.-14. Âvâz-e Bayât-e Tork
15.-17. Âvâz-e Afshâri
18.-21. Âvâz-e Dashti
22.-29. Âvâz-e Bayât-e Kord
30.-57. Dastgâh-e Homâyun

CD 3
01.-07. Âvâz-e Bayât-e Esfahân
08.-38. Dastgâh-e Chahârgâh
39.-58. Dastgâh-e Segâh

CD 4
01.-49. Dastgâh-e Mâhur

CD 5
01.-22. Dastgâh-e Navâ
23.-62. Dastgâh-e Râstpanjgâh

Hossein Alizadeh - târ

320kbps mp3, including full 68-pages-booklet scan




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Sussan Deyhim
Madman of God. Divine Love Songs of the Persian Sufi Masters
CramWorld craw 22, 2000






TrackList:

01. Gereley (Nocturnal Dialogue)
02. The Candle & The Moth
03. Daylaman (Inextricalbe)
04. Meykhaneh (Wine Cave)
05. Bade Saba (The Wind Of Saba)
06. Negara (Mesmerized Mirror)
07. Hamcho Farhad (Our Tears, Our Wine, Our Sight)
08. Navai (Savage Bird)

This collection of classical melodies from the Persian repotiore is based on the poetry of Rumi, Hafez and other Sufi writers from the 11th to the 19th cenruries. These pieces are as well known by my grandparents as they are by my own generation, and they represent the torch songs of classical

Persian music. - Sussan Deyhim

Sussan Deyhim is a composer, vocalist and performance artist who has been at the forefront of experimental music internationally for over two decades. Deyhim's music combines extended vocal techniques, digital processing, and the ancient mysticism of Middle Eastern music to create a deeply moving fusion of East and West.
Born in Tehran, Sussan Deyhim began her career dancing with Iran's Pars National Ballet company (performing weekly on Iranian national television), and then with Maurice Béjart's Ballet of the 20th Century. She moved to New York City in 1980, embarking on a multifaceted career encompassing music, theater, dance and media, and wide-ranging collaborations with leading artists from across the spectrum of contemporary art.
Deyhim has performed and recorded widely as a solo artist. Her one-woman show Vocodeliks, commissioned by the Whitney Museum of Art, led Billboard Magazine to describe Deyhim as "an overpowering presence...[whose] wordless incantations are amplified in harmonized layers and recycled into sampled loops, beckoning you into this virtual desert ritual" while the New York Times said that her "thrilling music...sounds in the ear long after you've left the show." Deyhim's solo recordings include Madman of God: Divine Love Songs of the Persian Sufi Masters, Shy Angels (with Bill Laswell) for the visionary label Crammed Discs and Turbulent. Other recordings include Majoun (for Sony Classical) and Desert Equations (released on Crammed Discs), both with the composer Richard Horowitz, a frequent collaborator. With composer and director Heiner Goebbels, Deyhim recorded Shadows (for ECM), based on writings of Edgar Allan Poe and Heiner Mueller, and composed and performed music for Deepak Chopra's A Gift of Love, with narration by Martin Sheen, Madonna, Goldie Hawn, and Debra Winger. She was also a featured soloist on Hal Wilner's tribute to Kurt Weill, Lost in the Stars.
Deyhim's numerous collaborations with the renowned visual artist/filmmaker Shirin Neshat have received critical acclaim, including the video Turbulent, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennial. Their multimedia performance Logic of the Birds was based on Farid ud-Din Attar's mystical book of poetry written in the 12th Century; produced by the Lincoln Center Summer Festival, the Walker Art Center, the Kitchen, and Artangel, Logic toured internationally.
Deyhim's previous work in the theater includes directing, co-composing, choreographing and performing a series of collaborations with Horowitz including: AZAX/ATTRA: Desert Equations (a one-woman multimedia performance piece produced by La Mama in New York City which toured internationally including Ars Electronica in Austria, Morocco, Paris, Berlin and Hong Kong)(; The Ghost of Ibn Sabbah (presented by the Brooklyn Academy of Music/New Music America, Central Park's Summerstage, and NYC's Town Hall); and X-Isle/Isle-X, commissioned by the Hong Kong Cotemporary Dance Company (which subsequently toured in Japan and Indonesia). As a performer, Deyhim has appeared in many international theater productions, including works by Elizabeth Swados, Jean Claude Van Italie, and Lindsay Kemp.
Deyhim has appeared on numerous film soundtracks including The Last Temptation of Christ, directed by Martin Scorsese, with music by Peter Gabriel), Any Given Sunday, (directed by Oliver Stone; soundtrack by Richard Horowitz) and Unfaithful (directed by Adrian Lyne, with music by Jan Kaczmarek.)
Deyhim has collaborated with many of the most important figures in contemporary music, including Micky Hart, Branford Marsalis, Jerry Garcia, Jaron Lanier, Christian Marclay, Elliot Sharp, Arto Lindsay, Jan Mattox, Loren Rush and Winston Tong. She has also toured internationally with Bill Laswell, Bobby McFerrin, Ornette Coleman, Jah Wobble, Will Calhoun, Doug Wimbish, Adrian Sherwood, Keith Le Blanc and Skip McDonnald.
Deyhim has been a frequent participent at humanitarian events and benefits, including a performance at the gathering of the spiritual leaders of the world at the UN General Assembly in 2001; the first Gathering of Female Spiritual Leaders in Geneva at the United Nations, a 2004 performance for the Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi's award ceremony organized by Interfaith Center; the Royal Hope Gala, Royal Albert Hall, London, England with Placido Domingo, The Royal Ballet and many others, for medical aid to Iraqi children; and Witness, a benefit for human rights, sponsored by Peter Gabriel.
Deyhim's current projects include a multimedia opera Zarathustra's Mother (inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra and sacred Zoroastrian texts), "Vorkestra", an all vocal album in collaboration with the visionary English producer Marius Devries, a collaboration with the Oscar winning Polish composer Jan Kazcmarek performing as a soloist, his orchestral film music with the USC Thornton Symphony and the Hollywood Film Chorale in Los Angeles at the Royce Hall in Jan 06 and a recent collaboration with composer Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream) and the legendary vocalist Nona Hendrix on the score for the anticipated "Showtime" new series "Sleeper Cell" which will air on Dec 05. (Soundtrack will be released on Miss Hendrix's label Rhythmbank in Jan 06)

320 kbps mp3 including full booklet scans




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Sussan Deyhim & Bill Laswell
Shy Angels. Reconstruction and Mix Translation of "Madman of God" by Bill Laswell
Crammed Discs craw 26, 2002






TrackList:

01. The Candle And The Moth
02. Bade Saba
03. Daylaman
04. Meykhaneh
05. Navai
06. Negara
07. Gereyley
08. Hamcho Farhad

Reconstruction and Mix Translation:
Bill Laswell - All vocals and vocal arrangements by Sussan Deyhim

Additional Musicians:
Abegasu Shiota - Electric Piano / Karsh Kale - Drums, Tabla, Programming / Bill Laswell - Bass, Synthesizer / Zakir Hussain - Tabla / Hamid Drake - Drums, Tabla / Aiyb Dieng - Chatan / Abdou Mboup - Percussion.

Original musicians:
Richard Horowitz - Strings & Sample Arrangement on track 2 / Reggie Workman - Acoustic Bass / Reza Derakhshani - Tar, Setar, Kamanche, Ney / Dawn Avery - Cello / Glen Velez - Daf / Hearn Gadbois - Zarb

Original "Madman of God" tracks produced and arranged by Sussan Deyhim, recorded by Sussan Deyhim at The Greenwich Den, NYC.
Texts based on poems by Nezami, Saadi, Rahey, Rumi, Malek-o-shoara Bahar, Ali Akbar Sheida and Abdol-rahman Djami.

Reconstruction and mix translation of Sussan's masterwork "Madman Of God" by the legendary musical pioneer, Bill Laswell.
"Shy Angels" is Bill Laswell's reinterpretation of the entire "Madman of God" album, in which Sussan Deyhim presents her uniquely personal reading of divine love poems by Rumi, Saadi and other Persian Sufi masters.

320 kbps mp3 including full booklet scans




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Fawzi Sayeb
Improvisations Taqsims on the Lute 'Ud
Byblos BLCD 1005, 1997

[IMG]http://i24.*******.com/2i6ypkw.jpg[/IMG]


TrackList:

01. Taqsim en maqam nahawand 6:50
02. Taqsim en maqam bayyat 4:10
03. Taqsim en maqam hijaz 6:35
04. Taqsim en maqam huzam 4:43
05. Taqsim en maqam rast 6:34
06. Taqsim en maqam nawa 'athar 5:15
07. Taqsim en maqam jaharkah 6:44
08. Taqsim en maqam saba
09. Taqsim en maqam sekah baladi 5:25

Fawzi Sayeb is of Tunisian origin. He began his career as an agricultural engineer, before devoting himself to the oud full time. He is entirely self-taught.

Fawzi Sayeb presents taqasim on a number of maqamat in an excellent showcase of classical Arab oud. Sayeb's background is evident from the style of the taqasim. The CD notes give good biographical details and information about the structure of each maqam.

320kbps mp3 - I burned it on CD from files downloaded sometime back. Those might well have been 128kbps only, so the quality might be less than expected. No booklet, sorry!




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Gnawa - Home Songs
Accords Croisés AC 117, 2006

[IMG]http://i23.*******.com/j7ysf5.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i22.*******.com/257nk7c.jpg[/IMG]


TrackList:

01. Merchane Family - Chalabati
02. Hamid Kasri - Aicha Hamdouchia
03. Collectif - Bouyandi
04. Zef Zaf - Foul gnawa
05. Hassan Boussou - Katib Allah
06. Abdelkader Merchane - Hamadi
07. Collectif - Bangoro
08. Abdelkebir Amlil - Instrumental
09. Hamid Kasri - Hamdouchia
10. Amida Boussou - Boulila
11. Zef Zaf - Tombouctou
12. Collectif - Sidi Koumy
13. Hassan Boussou - Soye
14. Selon Zef Zef (Video)


Intimate blues from the heart of Africa sung by some of the greatest Moroccan Gnawa voices.
The village of Tamesloht is a holy place in the arid lands south of Marrakesh. In the moonlight, its telluric walls resound with the motto of protective gnawa spirits. Between the call to prayer and the humming of insects, its sound universe is inhabited by Sub-Saharan Africa and age-old migrations. This tribute to the brotherhood's saints is both intimate and transgressive, bearing the healing melodies of their ritual drums and krakebs. "Gnawa home songs" is an exceptional gathering of great soloists (vocals and guembri lute), brought together by Emmanuelle Honorin and Karim Ziad. It features Hamid Kasri and Amlil, from Rabat, H'mida and Hassan Boussou, from Casablanca, and the Merchane family from Marrakesh.

320 kbps mp3, including full booklet scans




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George Michel
Melodies of the Oud
Global Village CD829

[IMG]http://i20.*******.com/33tjncw.jpg[/IMG]


TrackList:

01. El Mawkeb 3:41
02. Taksim Rast 4:21
03. Taksim Ajam 1:32
04. Taksim Hijaz Kar 3:24
05. Taksim Nahawand 2:50
06. Taksim Seygah 1:39
07. 'Ataba on the Oud' 9:06
08. Longa Hijaz Kar Kurdi 2:48
09. Taksim Hijaz Kar Kurdi 3:10
10. Taksim Rast 2:23

Recorded Cairo, 1970.

This is a good quality recording of one of the great masters of Egyptian-style oud. Some beautiful taqasim and duets with percussion make this an essential CD to add to the collection.

Plus some more of his music from unknown sources (some in even lower bitrates, but the music makes up for that, I promise!)

11. Afrah Al Sharq
12. Kurdili Hijazkar
13. Takassim 1
14. Takassim 2
15. Taqasim Nahawand
16. Taqsim live

128 kbps - sorry for the low bitrate.

George Michel was born in Cairo, Egypt. He studied Arab music at the Cairo Music Conservatory, where he later became a professor.



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La route musicale de la Soie - The Musical Silk Road
Accords Croises AC 102, 2004

[IMG]http://i15.*******.com/8anmhrs.jpg[/IMG]


TrackList:

CD 1

01. Egschligen - The Han Huhiin Mountains
02. Ensemble Neo-Traditionnel De Kotchkorka - Harati
03. Monajat Yultchieva - The Beseecher
04. Court Music
05. Ali Reza Ghorbani - Do Not Listen, My Friend...
06. Sudha Ragunathan - You Are Like A Little Parrot
07. Liang Tsai Ping - Winter Crows Gliding On Frozen Water
08. Abida Parveen - The One For Whom I Chose Ascetism
09. Etsuko Chida - Evening Beauty
10. Diljat Kangeldeva - Agitation
11. Angelique Lonatos - From All The Stars
12. Ustad Mahwash - All My Life
13. Deulet Khudaiberenov - Shukar Baxshi


CD 2

01. Mounir Bachir - The Mad Ud
02. Faiz Ali Faiz - The Sorrow Of Love...
03. Communaute Dirigee Par Le Sheikh Nail Kesova - Sama Ritual
04. Ustad Mahwash - Listen To The Ney
05. Meulam Nureyev - Alamge, Gilgai, Gilmaghai
06. Lu Pei-Yuen - Sounds Of Silk
07. An Hyangnyon - The Song Of Sim'chong
08. Turgun Alimatov - Ferghana Dance
09. Ali Ekber Cicek - The Lion
10. Damira Njazbekova - Of The Same Age
11. Eulogy Of Gengis Khan
12. Goltchereh Sadikova - My Eyes Are Riveted On The Opposite House...
13. La Monica. Extract from XVIII-21. Fleur de Prunus


While this is hardly the first compilation to dwell on the ancient trade route called the Silk that ran from Europe to China and Japan, it's a topic big enough to accommodate more. In this case the loveliest pieces come from the Eastern edge of the world, with Liang Tsai-Ping's "Winter Crows Gliding on Frozen Water" being deliciously evocative in the Chinese manner, while Japan's Etsuko Chida offer an ethereal vocal on "Evening Beauty." The emphasis here is away from Europe and the Middle East (although Mounir Bachir's "The Mad Ud" is definitely worth a listen), and by taking the space of two discs, it's possible to paint a fuller picture of the musical cultures. The biggest shame, though, is the missed opportunity of presenting the pieces in geographic order, which might have offered a way to show how cultures influenced each other. Instead, we jump around from Pakistan to Japan to Kirghizstan to Greece. The music remains satisfying, but it could perhaps have been more. The booklet is informative, with good notes on each track. For all it's enjoyable and informative qualities, though, there's just a sense of slightly missed opportunity here. ~ Chris Nickson

Trade exchanges between the West and the Far East began in the 1st century BC after the Romans first discovered a mysterious fabric called silk. This discovery led to an explosion of maritime expeditions and caravans to support the world's demand for this new and luxurious commodity. German geographer Ferdinand von Richtoffen coined the popular name for these trade routes - The Silk Road. An active trade route for the next two millennia, The Silk Road's rich and colorful history gave birth to an equally colorful and diverse trade in musical creativity. The mutual exchange between the various cultures along the 7,000-mile route enriched and expanded the world's musical vocabulary. This fascinating and comprehensive set from Accords Croisés, packed with information and photographs and offered in a deluxe longbox package, features 26 tracks of music from 14 different countries.

It's not the first such compilation, but "The Musical Silk Road" is a particularly good one. Over two CDs (with a lavish, informative booklet) it presents studio & field recordings from Korea, across the Asian continent & into Mediterranean Europe. The various trade routes collectively labeled "The Silk Road" only became generally known by that name in the 19th century. But those trade routes' history covers more than two thousand years & a vast array of different cultures: Chinese, Turkic, Persian, Arabic & others. Some of the music here is made available on disc for the first time.

320kbps mp3, including 50 page full colour booklet in English and French




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Wiener Tschuschenkapelle
Wien - Rennweg - Balkan. Best Of
tschuschenton 002, 2006

[IMG]http://i21.*******.com/9ifpt3.jpghttp://[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i20.*******.com/118q6uo.jpg[/IMG]


TrackList:

01. Vesela je sokadija
02. Arapines
03. Moja mala
04. Stipski cocek
05. Marin
06. Vehni, vehni fijolica
07. Zülüf dökülmüs yüze
08. His, hisi hancer
09. Shota
10. Stin magemeni arapja
11. Tuzno vjetri gorom viju
12. Zimska noc
13. Wann i amoi stirb
14. Schönes dearndl
15. Sinoc kad sam ti dosa
16. Polegala trava detela
17. Trojka
18. Becarski madzarac

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Dalian Opera Troupe
Opéra de Pékin: La forêt en feu, la princess Cent-Fleurs / The Peking Opera: The Forest on Fire, The Princess Hundred Flowers
Buda musique 92618-2, 1994 (?)

[IMG]http://i21.*******.com/2je31bt.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i22.*******.com/s247pe.jpg[/IMG]


TrackList:

01. Scene 1: Denouncing The Usuper At The Wedding
02. Scene 4: Stopping The Royal Charriot On Its Way
The Princess Hundred Flowers (Unabridged)
03. Scene 1: Giving A Sabre As An Alliance Token
04. Scene 2: Giving Orders To The Generals
05. Scene 3: Falling In The Trap
06. Scene 4: The Disparition Of A Flower


In European opera it is difficult to imagine the full scope of a piece from the music alone. In Chinese opera this is even more so because the performers must combine physical feats along with the singing. Acrobatics, martial arts, weaponry, dance, acting, singing and even slight of hand are integrated into the story. And in most Chinese art creative interpretation is usually discouraged and robotic mimicry is prized. Actors in the opera must not only be able to sing and do all else but they must also perform exactly the same way as their predecessors. So hearing the music alone allows only a fraction of the experience that opera fans enjoy in the theater. But it is worthwhile.
I recall hearing a few treasured lp albums of The Forest on Fire and Princess Hundred Flowers--such richness in the gonging, sonorous falsettos, and contrepuntal baritones. These qualities have gone missing in this CD. Compared to the old lps the instruments sound tinny (reinforcing negative prejudices against Chinese music) and the voices out of breath (inexplicable). It is hard to tell from listening to the CD if the fault lay with the recording process or with the performance. For the sake of the art I hope it is the former. Until a better quality recording comes along this one is better than none.

The Peking Opera has valiantly resisted the gales of Cultural Revolution. We rediscover with great pleasure the expressive voices of the loyal generals, the deceiving princes and the valiant female warriors, remarkably interpreted by the Dalian Troupe.

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Rahim Alhaj
When The Soul Is Settled. Music of Iraq
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings SFW CD 40533, 2006

[IMG]http://i23.*******.com/nci5w7.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i23.*******.com/2vkmf5h.jpg[/IMG]


TrackList:

01. Taqasim Maqam Ajam
02. Taqasim Maqam Mukhalif
03. Taqasim Maqam Segah
04. Taqasim Maqam Kurd
05. Taqasim Maqam Bayyat-Hussaini
06. Taqasim Maqam Hijaz
07. Taqasim Maqam Lami
08. Taqasim Maqam Sharqi Rast
09. Taqasim Maqam Saba

Rahim Alhaj - oud
Souhail Kaspar - percussion


Rahim AlHaj, virtuoso oud musician and composer, was born in Baghdad, Iraq and began playing the oud (the grandfather of all stringed instruments) at age nine. Early on, it was evident that he had a remarkable talent for playing the oud. Mr. Alhaj studied under the renowned Munir Bashir, considered by many to be the greatest oud player ever, and Salim Abdul Kareem, at the Institute of Music in Baghdad, Iraq. Mr. AlHaj won various awards at the Conservatory and graduated in 1990 with a diploma in composition. He also holds a degree in Arabic Literature from Mustunsariya University in Baghdad. In 1991, after the first Gulf War, Mr. AlHaj was forced to leave Iraq due to his activism against the Saddam Hussein regime and began his life in Jordan and Syria. He moved to the US in 2000 as a political refugee and has resided in Albuquerque, NM ever since.
Rahim AlHaj has performed hundreds of concerts all over the world, on tour with Munir Bashir, as well as solo and with his string quartet, including in the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Rahim’s music delicately combines traditional Iraqi maqams with contemporary styling and influence. His compositions are about the experience of exile from his homeland and of new beginnings in his adopted country. His songs establish new concepts without altering the foundation of the traditional Iraqi School of Oud.
Mr. AlHaj currently has four CDs. His latest, When the Soul is Settled: Music of Iraq, produced by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings was released in June 2006 at a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Don Heckman, reviewing the CD for the Los Angeles Times, wrote: “Alhaj's spontaneous inventions are constantly fascinating — a convincing affirmation of the rich culture of an embattled area of the world." (January 7, 2007). Friendship: Oud and Sadaqa String Quartet, a unique musical collaboration between East and West, was released in December 2005 on Fast Horse Recordings label and received two Grammy nominations. The Second Baghdad, (2002) and Iraqi Music in a Time of War, (2003) are both produced by VoxLox Records. His plans for 2007 CD releases include Home Again, touching and evocative original compositions portraying his trip to Iraq after 13 years in exile and a flamenco guitar/oud CD with Ottmar Liebert, Jon Gagan and Barrett Martin.
Rahim won the Albuquerque Arts Alliance Bravo Award 2003 for Excellence in Music and was dubbed: “The Prophet with an Oud” by a music reviewer at the College of William and Mary. There have been a number of recent national articles about his life and musical message including in the Smithsonian Magazine (November 2006), Time Out New York Magazine, (December 13, 2006), NPR All Things Considered feature interview, (December 2006), Los Angeles Times Music Review (January 7, 2007), Global Rhythm (January 2007),Times of London (December 2006), Village Voice Top Picks for 2006 and CMJ’s New World Top Ten (February 2007) and a Reuter’s International News article. Mr. AlHaj’s CD’s have become best sellers and are frequently featured on national radio shows and movies worldwide, including the BBC, NPR All Things Considered, ABC National Radio Australia, Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now and NPR’s Studio 360.

Flac, including full booklet scan




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Ensemble Azad
Armenia - Traditional Music
PlayaSound SA 141136, 2006

[IMG]http://i22.*******.com/2ev4182.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i20.*******.com/swbzhj.jpg[/IMG]


TrackList:

01. Le Berger
02. For Anne Marie
03. Aparani
04. Bouquet de Fleurs
05. Hingala
06. Kotchari
07. Enzeli
08. Hommage Ã* l'Arménie
09. Hartanakh/Zonaradikos
10. Ari Yar
11. Shatakhi Dzenapar
12. Danse d'Arménie
13. Danse des Pêcheurs


The traditional music ensemble Azad performs festive and nostalgic music from Armenia. This recording, consisting mainly of instrumental pieces, takes us to visit the various regions of this mountainous country through dance music--"aparani" from north of Yerevan, "kotchari" from eastern Anatolia, and "shatakhi dzenapar" from the Shatakh region--as well as pieces that accompany the daily lives of its people.

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Turquie - Musiques villageoises d'Anatolie / Turkey - Anatolian Village Music
VDE-GALLO VDE-797, 1994

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TrackList:

Music from the Village Festivals
01. Cine Taksimi Ve Ikiparmak Zeybegi
02. Pehlivan Güres Havasi
03. Silsaray Horon Havasi
04. Karabag Kafkas Oyun Havasi
05. Dirmil'in Calgisi
06. Su Dirmil'in Calgisi
07. Tahtaci Mengisi

Personal Music
08. Terekeme Kars Oyun Havasi
09. Chanson d'Âsik de Sivas
10. Uzun Hava (Chant Long)
11. Yayla Türküsü
12. Yörük Oyun Havasi
13. Karakoyunlar Icermege
14. Uzun Hava
15. Improvisation on the Kaval Flute
16. Artvin Ata Bari

Women's Music
17. Oyun Havasi
18. Tabancamin Sapini
19. Gurbet Elde
20. Kina Türküsü
21. Kina Türküsü
22. Nennen
23. Berdelim
24. Uzun Hava
25. Agit
26. Cagrisa Cagrisa Havada Turnam
27. Ninni

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Turkmenistan - La musique des bakhshy / The Music Of The Bakhshy
VDE-GALLO VDE-651, 1991

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TrackList:

01. Gongurbash Mukamy
02. Dalmidi
03. Gelinder
04. Ak Yuzli
05. Don Govum
06. Begler
07. Yarym
08. Yaranlar
09. Yara Degmesin
10. Sona Gelin
11. Garybym
12. Gitme Gorogly
13. Balsayat
14. Ner Gezgin
15. II Yagshy
16. Gelemen
17. Daglar
18. Novayi
19. Bibining


Turkmenistan is one of the republics in Central Asia belonging to Russia. Their music is mainly from Turkish and Iranian origin, although there are many other influences. It is mainly a vocal music, sung by men, the bakhshy, who accompany themselves with a lute, the dutâr, and/or a fiddle (the ghidjak). They also use in instrumental music a flute (the garghy tüydük), a kind of clarinet (the dilli tüydük), and a Jew's harp (the qopuz). They sing for all kinds of important events and ceremonies, such as weddings, the birth of a child, the circumcision of boys, boys' first haircut, and so on. The only time music is not used is for death. In Turkmenistan, the term "bakhshy" is of Mongolian origin and designates the singer, the musician, and the storyteller, and they are professionals with a particular status; their training can last more than ten years. This CD gives the listener an excellent overview of the diversity and quality of this very particular music. ~ Bruno Deschênes

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Inde du Sud / South India - Mârgam. L'intégrale du Bharatanâtyam / The complete Bharatanâtyam
VDE/GALLO VDE-1004/1005, 2000



TrackList:

CD 1

01. Slôkam (3:39)
02. Todaya Mangalam (14:03)
03. Alarippu (5:28)
04. Jatisvaram (7:28)
05. Kauthuvam (4:10)
06. Sabdam (7:08)
07. Varnam (36:13)


CD 2

01. Viruttam, Padam (11:49)
02. Padam (11:44)
03. Padam (11:12)
04. Jâvali (11:34)
05. Viruttam, Tillânâ (11:15)
06. Mangalam (3:25)

Nandini Sharma - vocals
S. Vijayaraghavan - violin
Kannan - vina
V. Shankaranarayanan - flute
M. Dhananjayan - mridangam
Priya Murle - nattuvangam

Compositions by Madurai N. Krishnan


Silambam has produced a double CD recording of Bharatanatyam compositions, sponsored by the Ethnographical Museum of the town of Geneva. Compositions of Padmasri Vidwan Madurai N. Krishnan were chosen representing a Margam, or complete sequence of Bharatanatyam compositions from the Todaya Mangalam to the Thillana. This is the first time in Europe that such a complete recording of Bharatanatyam music has been recorded. Manjula has presented excerpts from this unique double CD recording on the Swiss television and the Swiss radio.

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Asie Centrale / Central Asia - Les maîtres du dotâr / The Masters of the Dotâr
VDE-GALLO VDE-735, 1993

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TrackList:

01. Girya
02. Bayat, qara koz
03. Nala-i darvaz
04. Chant iyrique
05. Ragi de darvaz
06. Falak-i dashti
07. Me'raj name
08. Nava'i
09. Maqam-e la elaha ella i-lah
10. Maqam-e allah
11. Qazalaq, nava'i
12. Shah khata'i
13. Golit
14. Qara veliam
15. Ziba gozel
16. Sarilim galir
17. Nazli yar
18. Maqam


DOTÂR, long-necked lute of the tanbûr family, usually with two strings (do târ). Several different types are current in the area between Turkey and Central Asia, sometimes with other names (generally derived from the word tanbûr). The principal feature is the pear-shaped sound box attached to a neck that is longer than the box and faced with a wooden soundboard. Dotârs can be classified in several different types.
The Central Asian dotâr is the largest (total length ca. 125 cm) and is equipped with two silken strings; the box is made of wooden strips glued together (Plate 2). It is tuned in fifths, in fourths, and sometimes in unison. Its sonority is grave and noble, and it is as suitable for accompanying popular songs as for solos and interpretation of the classical repertoire (e.g., Å*aÅ¡ maqâm, Oniki muqam).
The dotâr of Khorasan (in the broad sense) is narrower and shorter (total length ca. 100-10 cm); it was formerly strung with silk or gut, materials that in the 20th century have been supplanted by steel. It is tuned in fifths or fourths. The box is carved from a single mulberry log, and the neck is often fitted with metallic frets, sometimes of silver. This dotâr is played by the Turkman, Karakalpaks, Turks, Kurds, and Persians, as well as the Afghans, of Khorasan (Plate 3). It is the favored instrument of the troubadours (bakhšî, q.v.) and is also played as a solo instrument. It has a very light, brilliant timbre, and the technique of playing it is based on ornamentation, basically a very rapid tremolo. Several subcategories can be distinguished, corresponding to the various ethnic traditions in the region (Baily and During). A close variation is the Kurdish and Lorî tanbûr, the sharp cord of which has recently been doubled (Plate 3).
The sound box and neck of the dotâr (or dombra) used in the popular music of Tajikistan are carved from a single piece of apricot wood. There are no frets, and the gut (or nylon) strings are no more than 60 cm long, the total length of the instrument being 75 cm (Sakata, p. 72). In contrast to the other types, its sounding board is of poplar wood, rather than mulberry.
The dotâr of Herat has undergone certain recent modifications. The gut strings have often been replaced by metal ones, and a third string has been added. In the 1960s, under the influence of Indian instruments, strings for resonance and a drone bass were added, which led to a change in the technique of playing (with a metal pick) and to a change in proportions (Baily, pp. 31-33).
The musical function of the dotâr determines its status. In the province of Herat it has been relegated to the array of rustic instruments, but in Persian Khorasan it retains its former nobility, especially in Torbat-e Jâm, one of the great musical centers of the region. It is often richly decorated with inlays, marquetry of bone and horn, and silver niello.
Despite differences in proportions, sonority, and manufacture, all the dotârs (except the modern Afghan instrument) and many other tanbûrs and dombras share one common feature: When played the two strings are plucked simultaneously in a single movement of the entire hand, including the index finger and one or several other fingers, without a plectrum or metal sheath, in such a way that the accented notes are sounded from high to low. This basic technique has been refined to varying degrees, incorporating different kinetic-rhythmic patterns and fingerings and reaching a consummation in the Tajik-Uzbek tradition.
The term dotâr does not appear in early texts, but it is probable that this same instrument was described under the term tanbûr. In the 14th century Marâghî (1367 Å*./1988, pp. 200-01) described a two-string tanbûr that was tuned in fourths and equipped with ten frets (dasâtîn, q.v.), producing the Pythagorean scale based on limma and comma; he doubtless drew his description from Safî-al-Dîn Ormavî. Marâghî also described two other two-string tanbûrs (the torkî and the Å¡).
It may be supposed that the original tanbûr, which, with the ´ûd, occupied the central position in early musicological writings (especially those of Farâbî, q.v.), gave rise to variations with three or more strings, called tanbûr, setâr, chahârtâr, and so on and that the two-string type was then distinguished by the more popular term dotâr (or dombra).
This type of instrument is rarely represented in pre-Islamic art, though there are innumerable representations of the barbat (q.v.; Karomatov, Meskeris, and Vyzgo, pp. 92-93) and later of the ´ûd. To judge from medieval miniature paintings, the dotâr or two-stringed tanbûr lost its place among the classical instruments of Persia for a considerable period, doubtless supplanted by the setâr, which is represented frequently. - Jean During

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Bulgarie / Bulgaria - Musique de tradition pastorale / Music of the Shepherds' Tradition
VDE-GALLO VDE-1148, 2004


TrackList:

01. Pastorale [Flûte Kaval]
02. Païdushko Horo [Cornemuse Gaïda]
03. Chant Ã* Danser
04. Ratchenitsa [Kaval]
05. Na Prebulvane [Gaïda]
06. Daï Mi Mamo, Daï Mi [Kaval]
Rhodopes
07. Pospusni Sa Shêr Planino
08. Suite de Mariage (Wedding Suite) [Cornemuse Kaba Gaïda]
09. Zashto Minavash Momme le ? [Chant et Gaïda][Version]
Nord-Ouest
10. Appel aux Brebis (Calling the Sheep) [Flûte Duduk]
11. Narodno Horo [Duduk]
12. Ratchenitsa [Duduk]
13. Marko Todorka Zaliubi [Chant et Duduk]
14. Snoshti Si Mamo Zamraknah
15. Stoïan Si Shileta Paseshe [Chant et Duduk]
16. Pastorale [Duduk]
17. Vidinski Horo [Duduk et Grosse Caisse Tapan]

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