Reviews

Faran

Faran Ensemble

Faran is an Israeli instrumental group playing their own compositions on traditional Middle Eastern instruments, including oud (lute), kamancheh (spike...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Hevra (Together)

Aynur

After the controversy stirred by her debut, Ke‡e Kurdan, in 2004, the title of this album might refer to a...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Ancient Sufi Invocations & Forgotten Songs From Aleppo

Nawa

When Jason Hamacher, a punk drummer in Washington DC, read William Dalrymple's From the Holy Mountain, he contacted the author...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Kurdistan

Nishtiman

The seven-piece group Nishtiman, meaning ‘Homeland’, brings together five Kurdish musicians from the three main territories where the Kurds are...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Erguvan

DEM Ensemble

This album consists mostly of folk repertoire from the Aegean region of Turkey, collected in the field by musicologist Ali...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Rumi Symphony Project Cycle 1: Untold

Hafez Nazeri

Hafez Nazeri is the son of the renowned Iranian-Kurdish singer and instrumentalist Sharam Nazeri. He has set up an ambitious...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Baladi Blues Reloaded

Guy Schalom

Baladi music lies at the root of Arab pop music. It's a popular Egyptian style that developed during the 1920s,...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Azerbaijani Love Songs

VARIOUS ARTISTS

As you might suspect if you’re familiar with the instrumental music of Azerbaijan, Azeri love songs are lyrical, heartfelt and...

Reviewed in issue June/2014

Sacred World of Azerbaijani Mugham

Gochag Askarov

Gochag Askarov, in his mid-30s, is the new icon of mugham, the intense classical music of Azerbaijan. He was the...

Reviewed in issue June/2014

La Tsadika

Mor Karbasi

I reviewed Mor Karbasi’s debut album The Beauty and the Sea five years ago with heady enthusiasm. Her vibrant vocal...

Reviewed in issue June/2014