Kurdish 2009

Working with Danish producer and DJ Mashti, "Sufiyan" is a special combination between the ancient and traditional, connecting it with the modern and technical. If asked, Bahram says about the origin of his music: "It is simply spontaneous and comes from the heart, it develops out of the moment."
Somehow Bahramji and Mashti combine what should be polar opposites: soothing, flowing, meditative santoor, flute, ney, settar together with powerful beats and mystical Eastern vocals. It's done in a truly symbiosis. Sufiyan combines influences from ancient, traditional Sufi melodies as well as Kurdish and Indian sounds. The multi-layers of their music reflects itself also in the texts about wisdoms and experiences, which go back to old Persian mystics and poets such as Rumi, Attar or Hafez.

Yamashita studied piano as a child and has played professionally since the age of 17. He attended Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo from 1962-1967 and played for a time with saxophonist Sadao Watanabe. Yamashita formed a bassless trio in 1969; his Bill Evans-influenced style expanded to include free jazz, a rather radical step given the conservatism of the Japanese jazz scene at the time. Beginning in the '70s, his trio toured widely and played many major European events, including the Berlin and Montreux jazz festivals. Yamashita's U.S. debut was at the 1979 Newport Jazz Festival; he also recorded with members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago around that time. In the '80s, Yamashita began playing frequent solo concerts…

Guitar virtuoso Tim Sparks continues to explore music of the Jewish diaspora with Tanz, his second recording for John Zorn's Tzadik label. As opposed to Neshamah, which was strictly solo guitar, Sparks is aided this time by bassist Greg Cohen and percussionist Cyro Baptista. Sparks comes from a classical guitar background more than a fingerpicking folky background, and his virtuosic technique is incredible, but always in service to the music, not merely technique. Cohen's experience as bassist for Masada serves him well here, negotiating some odd time signatures with ease. Cyro Baptista's Brazilian-flavored percussion adds a Latin lilt to the proceedings on many cuts. There are several "traditional klezmer" tunes, written by Naftule Brandwein, but also songs from other areas of the Jewish music tradition…

Another excellent Sublime Frequencies collection of Omar Souleyman's work, these very modern electronic Arabic folk songs were recorded live.