Reviews

Safar: Les Âmes Retrouvées

Waed Bouhassoun

The Syrian oud player and singer Waed Bouhassoun grew up in the culturally rich Jebel Druze region, just over the...

Reviewed in issue June/2019

Leyla

Adir Jan

Adir Jan brings us into a world of queer Kurdish cosmic love songs, on an album whose energy and innovation...

Reviewed in issue June/2019

Uneven Sky

Kinan Azmeh

This is a hugely ambitious and timely double album from the New York-based, Syrian-born virtuoso clarinettist and composer Kinan Azmeh....

Reviewed in issue June/2019

Gece

Altın Gün

This second album follows swiftly on from last year's debut as the mostly non-Turkish Altın Gün (Golden Day) refine their...

Reviewed in issue June/2019

Bendewarî/İntizar/Longing

Sakina

Sakina Teyna is a traditional singer who was born into a Kurdish family in Varto, a small town in the...

Reviewed in issue June/2019

Rüya

Olcay Bayir

Olcay Bayir's father was an aşik, a musical bard of Anatolia, and seems to have made a strong impression on...

Reviewed in issue May/2019

Such a Moon, the Thief Pauses to Sing

Peppe Frana & Christos Barbas

Since having met over a decade ago at Ross Daly's Labyrinth Musical Workshop in Crete, Peppe Frana and Christos Barbas...

Reviewed in issue May/2019

Visions of Iraq

Ahmed Mukhtar

Ahmed Mukhtar is a London-based Iraqi musician, renowned for his masterful playing of the oud. On Visions of Iraq, Mukhtar performs...

Reviewed in issue May/2019

Öz/Essence

Coşkun Karademir Quartet

Coşkun Karademir's two previous albums in collaboration with international artists were both received with some critical acclaim. This is the...

Reviewed in issue May/2019

S H I R A N

S H I R A N

S H I R A N was born in Israel but is half-Yemeni and half-Iraqi. And that comes through on...

Reviewed in issue April/2019