Reviews
In the Shadow of the Song
The soft, mellow but plangent tone of the duduk is instantly recognisable and tugs at the heart strings. It has...
Reviewed in issue October/2012
So Bouzouk
On paper, the diverse musical elements that this album brings together – Kurdish traditional, flamenco and Parisian jazz – could...
Reviewed in issue October/2012
Goblet of Eternal Light
Ali Akbar Moradi & Bahar Movahed
Ali Akbar Moradi is a master of the Kurdish tanbur (long-necked lute) and one of the great traditional musicians of...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2012
Jewish-Arab Song Treasures
Here’s another exemplary piece of music history from Buda Musique, its liner notes adorned with a weighty chunk of scholarship...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2012
Ushba: Georgian Harmonies
The group Mze Shina (Inner Sun) is actually a French quartet – three men and one woman – specialising in...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2012
Dance to the Sun
Turkey has no shortage of baglama (lute) masters working on new forms of expression, and Europe has no shortage of...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2012
Radio Beirut: Sounds from the 21st Century
There’s an inevitable overlap between Radio Beirut, compiled by the German journalist Dagmar Golle, and last year’s Golden Beirut CD...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2012
Fasl-i Rembetiko
Deep currents are crossing the blue Aegean – the Greek economic crisis and the Turkish ascent are altering old balances,...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2012
If Like Birds and Angels I Could Fly
Hossein & Raha Alizadeh with the Hamavayan Ensemble
Perhaps the most striking aspect of this recent album by Hossein Alizadeh & the Hamavayan Ensemble is its showcasing of...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2012
Twinklings of Hope
I first heard Iranian sisters Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat in Istanbul in 2006. The power in their voices, so perfectly...
Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2012
