Montreal-based Constantinople Ensemble is a group of musicians who chose the journey, not only geographical, but also historical, cultural, temporal, and inner, as their cornerstone, drawing inspiration from all sources and aiming for distant horizons. To the cynic this vision will sound trite. But unlike so many in the world of contemporary art music , the Constantinople Ensemble under their music director Kiya Tabassian put their music where their mouth is. Their recently-released album In the Footsteps of Rumi on the innovative Glossa label may be predictable in subject matter. But the core ensemble of setar (Persian lute), kanun (Turkish zither), percussion, and baroque violin and viola d'amore is far from predictable. For the exquisite Rumi settings in Persian and Arabic they are joined by Tunisian singer Ghalia Benali in an album that provides a refreshingly astute viewpoint on the over-exposed Rumi . Even further off the predictability scale is the Cons
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I really do not understand why those Londoners are programming Hugh Masakela. I’ve listened to his Music and frankly speaking : I didn’t like it.
Threre’s much better in South Africa. Take for instance Dollar Brand , i e Abdullah Ibrahim. A great artist.
Just listen to “ Good News From Africa”. A masterpiece. It’s http://www.jazzrecords.com/enja/2048.htm
He’s very serious. He wants his Music to be respected. He doesn’t start playing as long as there is noise in the concert hall.
My guess is that he’s not that well known in the UK. When he was in exile ( apartheid) he lived in Germany. He keeps playing all over Europe ( mostly in Germany). He now has a small institute at the Cape Town University.
You can find info on pianist Dollar Brand / Abdullah Ibrahim here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_Ibrahim
and most of all : http://www.abdullahibrahim.com/indexf.html
The Guardian said : http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2001/dec/08/jazz
I think you’ll like this Music.
BT