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New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art isn’t the first place that comes to mind for tradi- tional music, but it does have form. In 1955 it was the venue for the first American perfor- mance of Indian music, by the sarod player Ali Akbar Khan, and more recently hosted an exhibition of material related to the Kurdish Iranian tanbur (long-necked lute) player Ostad Elahi (1895-1974) for which a well- packaged 2CD selection of his recordings has been issued as The Sacred Lute: The Art Of Ostad Elahi (Le Chant Du Monde 874 2259.60). Ostad Elahi was a very private man for whom music was a way of delving within and connecting with the Divine. He grew up in a mystical community related to Sufism and his musical talent was recognised from an early age, although he never played in public. The recordings from which this set is compiled were made by members of his fami- ly, and often without his knowledge. Elahi’s very personal style draws on both Kurdish and Persian musical influences and the titling of the two discs as Reflection and Reverence gives an indication of their underlying mood. The first disc opens with a long meditative suite and his music continues largely in that vein, although there are occasional changes in tone or segues to a more insistent rhythm and even snatches of him singing early Sufi poetry. A set of refined and reflective music that makes very rewarding listening.


Sufi ceremony is also at the heart of a wonderful recording by the French-Moroccan singer Aicha Redouane. Dhikr Du Bien- Aime [Dikr Of The Beloved] (Ocora C 560256) is a musical arrangement by Redouane and Habib Yammine of the poem al-Khamriyya (Elegy Of Mystic Wine) by the 12th Century Egyptian Sufi poet Omar Ibn al-Farid, delivered in something of the style of a Sufi ceremony. This recording, on which Aicha is accompa- nied by Yammine and a small ensemble that includes ney, qanun and oud, is taken from a 2004 concert in Geneva for which Aicha was in great voice: ornamenting and modulating her phrasing in richly classical, rather than austere Sufi style. There’s a nice balance between the musical elements and some fine instrumental solos, creating a sublime mix of classical Arab vocal and Sufi structure. Mystic wine rarely tasted better.


One of the most distinctive sounds in tra- ditional music is the somewhat plangent clar- inet style of the Epirus region of north-west Greece. Parakalamos (JSP 3101) is a set of 2014 field recordings featuring the young clarinettist Yiannis Chaldoupis & Mouk- liomos. Yiannis recently played an excellent set in London but hails from the village of the title, which has a sizeable Roma population, and is himself of both Roma and Greek descent. Here he leads a typical quartet that includes violin, lute and defi (frame drum) and the recordings are arranged in the order they might be played at a local feast. The lament form known as moiroloi is a corner- stone of the local style, whether it be for those absent (as in the opening tune) or for some- thing more deeply personal, as in the final piece, Marioal. Apart from one tune in a post- war rumba rhythm, many are in a slow three- step dance time, while the occasional rough- ness of the group’s singing and interjections is intentional and in line with local style.


Epirus shares more than a border with Albania, as the two clearly have musical styles


Pipa Potluck (Innova 916) by Gao Hong


& Friends isn’t the first album of pipa duets with other stringed instruments, but it may turn out to be the benchmark. Gao Hong is joined by an illustrious selection of musical friends that include Alison Brown (banjo), Darol Anger (fiddle) and George Kahumoku Jr. Cluck Old Hen sets the tone as a stately barn- yard strut and there’s some nice interplay between pipa and slack-key guitar on The Source Of The Spring Water. Gao’s own play- ing is both sensitive and subtle: particularly on the opening passages of Green Willow Tree before it segues into bluegrass. Her duets with the oud players Yair Dalal and Bassam Saba are a particular highlight, and the pipa- oud combination gives a somewhat Greek feel to their version of Longa Nahawand.


Aicha Redouane


in common. Thus a lament on the Greek side of the border may be an extended instrumen- tal, but one can easily imagine that on the Albanian side it might just as easily be ren- dered as a vocal piece. Many of us first heard the power and intricacy of Albania’s poly- phonic male vocal groups via several fine anthologies, but current performers have lit- tle profile. Ura Qe Lidh Motet (Music & Words, MWCD 4068), which translates as The Bridge That Links Time; is the second album by the Ensemble Tirana, a six-piece group formed in 1994. On this evidence they deserve to be as well-known as the Rustavi Choir from Georgia , Tenores di Bitti (Sar- dinia) or A Filetta (Corsica). Full-throated, powerful, intricate and complex are all words that could be used to describe the group’s style. The singers must have vocal cords of teak, but the group’s largely a cappella reper- toire is leavened by a few songs in more melodic styles and by the occasional use of a lute or flute as accompaniment. The topics of the songs range from heroic ballads to love songs, but these thematic shifts are not always discernible from the underlying style of melody or arrangement.


The Tibetan singer, Namgyal Lhamo, may appear to share a surname and even a style with her better-known compatriot Yungchen Lhamo, but not necessarily. Tibetan names tend to be bestowed by lamas, rather than inherited; and where Yungchen’s soar- ing and dramatic vocal style is a very personal interpretation of her roots, Namgyal’s is more restrained. Namgyal studied Tibetan opera and classical music at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in India and accompanies herself on both hammered dulcimer (gyu- mang) and the Tibetan dranyen lute. Her repertoire on Musical Offerings 2: An Anthology Of Tibetan Classical Songs (Music & Words MWCD 5022) includes pieces in both the nangma and toeshey styles, both said to be originally from Persia, namthar (opera songs) and a few sung prayers or reli- gious praise songs. Faster rhythmic songs are known as trukshed, and when songs change tempo midway through, as many do, this term also describes the second section. Her style may be more simply melodic and less power- ful than Yunchen’s, but this is easy to recom- mend and it would be interesting to compare it with her previous album of folk songs.


The Mountain And The River (Felmay fy 8225) is a lovely debut set of traditional material by Yuan Deng, a young Chinese vir- tuoso of the gu zheng (a long koto-like zither) now resident in Italy. The seeming sim- plicity of her playing creates a refreshingly clear sound, and the lower tones of the instrument contrast with the more brittle top notes to give a welcome sense of light and shade. Some of her chosen pieces suggest links with standard pipa repertoire and style: the martial style of Heroic Little Sisters On The Prairie, for instance, or the rippling notes of Spring Dawn In The Snowy Mountains. Others, such as the deeply meditative Fisher- man’s Song At Dusk, suggest another zither tradition: the earlier guqin literati style.


The cover shot for the Guo Gan – Loup


Barrowduo with the weird instruments that Barrow plays on The Kite (Felmay fy 8228) makes them look like a pair of hi-tech New Age campers. And perhaps they are. It was probably inevitable that the slick skill of Guo Gan’s erhu playing would lead to atmospher- ic collaborations with unusual instrumental- ists, but apart from a pair of evocative erhu solos, there’s little to recommend.


Arifa are a Dutch group showcasing the talents of three women – a Chinese erhu player, Iranian kamanche player and Bulgari- an gadulka player – who all sing. Unfortu- nately, on Voices From The East (Arifa Music 860278) their individual talents are all too often subsumed into the somewhat mood-music arrangements of a backing band that includes piano and ‘live laptop’.


The Saydisc label is celebrating their 50th anniversary with a series that includes the compilation Percussion Around The World (Saydisc CDSL 438). The most interesting tracks are from David Fanshawe’s field recordings, but too many inclusions from the label’s back catalogue appear somewhat tenuous.


Phil Wilson


www.chantdumonde.com Ocora: www.radiofrance.fr www.jsprecords.com www.felmay.it www.innova.mu www.musicwords.nl www.arifamusic.com www.saydisc.com


Music & Words and Felmay are distributed by Proper in the UK, Saydisc by Discovery, Ocora and Le Chant du Monde by Harmonia Mundi.


Photo: F. Vernhet


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