Name: Astrakan Café
SKU: 503200
Price: 14.23 USD
Availability: InStock

Tracks

Performer Notes

Personnel: Lassad Hosni (bendir); Anouar Brahem (oud); Barbaros Erk”se (clarinet).
Recording information: Monastery of St. Gerold, Austria (07/1999).
Photographer: Moncef Fehri.
Arranger: Anouar Brahem .
The Tunisian oud genius has done it again. Anouar Brahem has issued only five records under his own name over the past decade, each more adventurous than the last, without compromising his original vision: for the music of his region to meet with the other music of Africa and Asia and create a delirious sound that is equal thirds past, present, and future, along the precipice of historical lineage. For Brahem there is no attempt to synthesize the globe, or even the sounds of the East with those of the West. He is content in his knowledge that sound is infinite, and that his tradition, as it evolves and expands into a deeper pan-African/trans-Asian whole, is more than large enough for a master musician to rummage through in one lifetime. Astrakan Caf‚, the follow-up to his brilliant Thimar, is a smaller-sounding recording that reaches farther into the deep crags of the Balkans. With Barbaros Erk”se on clarinet and the Indian and Turkish percussion stylings of the professor of somber precision, Lassad Hosni, Brahem's oud enters into a dialogue, musically, that has never before existed (though he has collaborated with both players previously). Erk”se is a Turkish clarinetist of gypsy origin. His low, warm, rounded tones are consonant with the oud. Erk”se plays equal parts music of the Balkan and Arab worlds with a tinge of the ancient klezmorim whispering their secrets through his horn. Despite the journeying these musicians do here, they never stray far from the takht, a small ensemble capable of improvising to the point of drunken ecstasy. Listening through Astrakan Caf‚, you can hear the gypsy flamenco tied deeply to Indian ragas and even a kind of Eastern jazz. But there is no hyperactivity in it, no need to cram as many traditions as possible into one putridly excessive mix that expresses nothing but the novelty of the moment. Astrakan Caf‚ has many highlights: its two title tracks that have their roots in Russian and Azerbaijan music; "Ashkabad," which is an improvisation on a melody from the folk music of Turkmenistan; "Astara," a modal improvisation based on love songs from Azerbaijan; "Halfounie," a segment from a Brahem-composed soundtrack inspired by the medina or marketplace in Tunis; and "Parfum de Gitanie," which takes a fragment from Ethiopian sacred music, slows it to the point of stillness, and waxes lazily and jazzily over the top, with the oud and the clarinet trading syncopated eights. This is deeply personal, profound music. It is also highly iconographic, with timelessness woven through every measure. The only "exotica" on Astrakan Caf‚ is its "otherness" out of space and any discernable era. The tempos are languid and full of purpose, the dynamics clean and clearly demarcated, the tones and modes warm, rich, and linear. This would be traditional music if a tradition such as this -- which is original, though adapted from many sources on inspiration -- actually existed. Highly recommended ~ Thom Jurek

Album: Astrakan Café
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Aube Rouge A Grozny	More Info...	0:04
2)	Astrakan Cafe	More Info...	0:03
3)	The Mozdok's Train	More Info...	0:04
4)	Blue Jewels	More Info...	0:08
5)	Nihawend Lunga	More Info...	0:03
6)	Ashkabad	More Info...	0:05
7)	Halfaouine	More Info...	0:06
8)	Parfum De Gitane	More Info...	0:07
9)	Khotan	More Info...	0:03
10)	Karakoum	More Info...	0:05
11)	Astara	More Info...	0:10
12)	Dar Es Salam	More Info...	0:03
13)	Hijaz Pechref	More Info...	0:06
14)	Astrakan Cafe	More Info...	0:04

Album: Astrakan Café
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Aube Rouge A Grozny	More Info...	0:04
2)	Astrakan Cafe	More Info...	0:03
3)	The Mozdok's Train	More Info...	0:04
4)	Blue Jewels	More Info...	0:08
5)	Nihawend Lunga	More Info...	0:03
6)	Ashkabad	More Info...	0:05
7)	Halfaouine	More Info...	0:06
8)	Parfum De Gitane	More Info...	0:07
9)	Khotan	More Info...	0:03
10)	Karakoum	More Info...	0:05
11)	Astara	More Info...	0:10
12)	Dar Es Salam	More Info...	0:03
13)	Hijaz Pechref	More Info...	0:06
14)	Astrakan Cafe	More Info...	0:04