Bêdawîtî

Based in Germany, Kurdish tanbur (lute) player Cemîl Qoçgîrî has worked with Kurdish singer Aynur, notably on the Hawniyaz album alonside Kayhan Kalhor. He's an eloquent player of an instrument that is central to Kurdish music in both Turkey and Iran and has frequently combined it with other instruments, such as Tara Jaff's harp on their album Tembur & Harp.

Here he's playing with the electric bass of Manuel Lohnes, also based in Germany. Sonically the two instruments work well together, although I'm not keen on the slightly buzzy sound of Lohnes' bass, which is in strong contrast to the clear and delicate sound of the tanbur. In the track ‘Bliss’, which is essentially a bass solo with tanbur strumming over the top, it becomes pretty irritating. The music sounds improvisational, but is clearly drawing on Alevi Kurdish tradition. Those that don't mind the music heading off in a jazz direction might like this combination, but I prefer the more traditional approach adopted on recent tanbur albums by Tahir Palali and Arash Moradi.