Music Review by Dawoud Kringle
The New York-based Iranian ensemble Koubeh formed in 2019 and consists of three musicians from the Iranian diaspora. They dedicated themselves to celebrating and reimagining Persian music for contemporary audiences.
Text by Dawoud Kringle
An unprecedented cultural change is happening in Saudi Arabia. After decades of rule wherein the Saudi dynasty has attempted to institute their interpretation of Shari’ah, big changes are happening.
The documented history of music in the Kingdom goes back around 120 years. Between 1903 and 1905, the first record was made by the Dutch consulate in Saudi Arabia. It featured voices singing songs accompanying the Hajj rituals, and singing songs together that appeared to be related to social rituals.
Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
Photo by Laurent Burst
YEMEN BLUES was founded by Ravid Kahalani, a rising star in Israel who grew up to a traditional Yemenite family, learned the language and the traditional chants of his origin. Ravid joined forces with Omer Avital, a well known bass player and composer, and together they gathered YEMEN BLUES, a group of musicians from New York, Israel and Uruguay which fuses traditional Yemenite music with blues, jazz, funk and West African rhythms and melodies.
Text and photos by Jeff Greene
Baku, modern and ancient
The city of Baku, the capitol of Azerbaijan, located below the Caucasus Mountains on the edge of the Caspian Sea, is a fascinating blend of east and west, old and new. In the late 1800s, numerous “oil barons’ mansions” were built alongside the existing ancient Islamic walled city in a strange mixture of architectural styles that mixed European classical, Art Nouveau with Persian eclecticism. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago, Baku has experienced another oil-fueled building boom of modern skyscrapers. But nothing seems to capture the essence of the Azerbaijan psyche the way that traditional Mugham music does.
The two Jeff's with the staff of the conservatory
Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
Tonight after midnight while practising on my sax, I listened to the radio station BBC World SERVICE which featured the Afghani rock band KABUL DREAMS. They were interviewed and did a short acapella.
So I got the idea to look for them in YouTube and check out how they sound as a band. I found one. After watching it I wondered how Rock bands in Iran, Pakistan and India would sound. You know, Afghanistan’s neighbors. Again YouTube helped me out. I found some interesting videos which I really enjoyed. Each video has a personal touch and tells a specific story. Please enjoy and listen to their stories and messages.
