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Label:
  Songlines - http://www.songlines.com/
Serial:
  SGL SA2403-2
Title:
  Safa: Alight
Description:
  "Alight"

Amir Koushkani (setar, vocals)
Francois Houle (clarinets)
Sal Ferreras (cajon, udu, bata drums, kulintang, bodhran, dumbek, timpani, miscellaneous percussion)
Track listing:
  1. Chahar Mezreb
2. Sufinameh
3. Navae
4. Shadi
5. Whisper of Love
6. Ninavae
7. Drunk
8. Nihawend Lunga
9. Aurora
10. Saghinameh
11. Epilogue
Genre:
  World
Content:
  Stereo/Multichannel
Media:
  Hybrid
Recording type:
  PCM
Recording info:
  RADAR recording mixed in analogue to 2-channel and 5-channel DSD by Shawn Pierce at Blue Wave Productions, Vancouver, assisted by Matthew Martiensson

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Reviews: 1

Site review by ramesh January 1, 2008
Performance:   Sonics:  
First review of 2008!
Songlines is a Canadian label which promotes the multicultural patrimony of the country's musicians. Its eclectic promotion of avant-garde, world and jazz styles in various presentations of fusion music is reminiscent of Germany's higher profile ECM. The differences seem to be that Songlines is more adventurous in its A & R, to say nothing of releasing many of its discs in hybrid SACD, unlike ECM's single paltry offering.

http://www.safaensemble.com reproduces on its home page most of the liner notes of the CD. 'Safa' comprises three musicians, who perform eleven tracks as either duets or trios. The musician of Iranian descent plays the Persian 'tar' and 'setar'. The only photo on this disc shows him with a 'tar', which is a six-stringed long necked lute with an hourglass-shaped gourd body. The setar is a three or four stringed long-necked lute with a smaller body. Historically, the ancestral setar evolved into the bigger Indian sitar, with its multiple sympathetic drone strings which the Persian instrument lacks. This musician also has four songs which he sings in Farsi. One is an extract from the famous classical Persian poet Hafiz; the other three lyrics are unfamiliar to me. [ http://music.tirip.com/album/48.htm has a wide range of Iranian music, mainly pop, but this particular album is more classical.]

The second member of the group is a clarinettist. For me, some of his variegated playing echoes the saxophonist Jan Gabarek's improvisations with various groups on ECM. The third member, a percussionist, utilises a veritable menagerie of instruments hailing from Peru, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and the Philippines.

There is no discernible unifying theme amongst the diversity of compositions presented. Suffice to say that any music lover will find several tracks to their liking. Aesthetic judgements of the compositions of competent musicians are hard enough to make when both the critic and the musicians operate in well-defined musical spheres. When the musicians break out of these traditional frames of reference it is hard to say much beyond 'I liked it', or not. This particular listener did, but what falls favourably on the ear one night might not do so on another.

Some of the tracks limn classical Persian music, except that the harmonic idiom sounds more Western than Asian modal. One resembles a simple Hindustani rag extract for sitar and tabla. On the other hand, track 6, 'Ninavae', is a sensuous arrangement of a Jewish/Semitic theme which almost everyone will recognise. A couple of tracks seem to be modelled on sound bites from the Japanese bamboo flute, steel drums, even quasi-gamelan sounds. Others hew to more avant-garde Western explorations of timbre and texture. Nevertheless, after playing this disc in its entirety several times, it can be said that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The owner of the Songlines label is the co-producer of this album. The production values are exemplary, capturing the vast range of timbres, especially from the percussion.