Souffles des Steppes

Souffles des Steppes (Breath of the Steppes) is the follow-up to the excellent 2015 album Souffles du Monde, on which the French flautist Henri Tournier collaborated with masters of different vocal traditions around the world. One of these collaborations was with the Mongolian singer Enkhjargal Dandarvaanchig (aka Épi). On their new release, Tournier and Dandarvaanchig reunite for a lengthier engagement, committed to pushing boundaries.
If you're looking for a pure expression of traditional Mongolian khöömii throat singing, Souffles des Steppes is probably not where you should start. While it is profoundly moving at times, it's not quite as immediate as its precursor. I've always associated Mongolian music with a poignant feeling of open space, and so this duo's more complex instrumental approach is sometimes a little challenging for me. The album's finest moments occur when the music is simpler, or where there's a clear hierarchy between the contributions of the main artists, for example on ‘Dodeca Mantra’, where Dandarvaanchig provides a sonic canvas for Tournier's flute melodies, and on ‘Kherlengiin Bariyaa’, where the morin huur (traditional Mongolian horsehair fiddle) takes centre stage.