Almaty or Bust!
7.25.2003
Album Review: Sevara Nazarkhan, Yol Bolsin
Real World Records
Released in 2003
Listen at Real World Records; buy at CD Roots
Fusion is as combustible in music as it is in nuclear science. It's hard to get the diverse pieces of the musical genres together in just the right way to create something that is not only new and interesting but also faithful to the original genres. This is the dance that has shaped Real World Records since Peter Gabriel established the label back in the early 90s. His original vision was to give "world" artists a chance to be heard by a larger audience. This has worked to some extent, in part because the label releases Gabriel's own music and because the "world beat" music released by other artists on the label is usually given a glossy, Gabrielish pop sheen, making it more palatable to western ears (in the same way Harvey Weinstein edits and rewrites and otherwise commercializes "independent" films so that they can make money).
Of course, the argument against this "fusion" of traditional world and ethnic musics with the commercial world of pop and rock is not as simple as those critical of Real World would suggest. Take Uzbeki singer Sevara Nazarkhan, for example. She is trained in the classical music of Central Asia, and her primary instrument (aside from her wonderful voice) is the dutar, the two-stringed lute that is popular in the region. However, she is also a pop star in Uzbekistan, having recorded with both jazz groups and on her own. In some ways, Nazarkhan's musical heritage is influenced both by the traditional sounds of her Islamic, Central Asian culture and the musical hegemony of western pop and rock music.
What is apparent when listening to Nasarkhan's debut western release, Yol Bolsin, is that she is comfortable in both musical worlds, for this is, without a doubt, a perfect example of "world beat fusion." The songs are primarily Uzbeki traditional and folk melodies, though there are a few more contemporary numbers thrown in as well. Likewise, the dutar is featured prominently, especially in the beginning of "Moghulchai Navo (Moghul Melody)," where it provides not only the song's intro but also its key melodic line. There are also other Uzbek instruments featured here, especially the percussion instruments (big drums, snapping finger cymbals, stuff like that). However, these traditional elements are shaped and molded around the glowing warmth of samplers, synths, drum machines, and studio wizardry. Don't get me wrong--the music never loses its Uzbeki feel, but that feel is wrapped up in a modern, western package. Is this a good thing? Well, I suppose from a marketing standpoint I would say yes, since there's a good chance more westerners will listen to and enjoy Yol Bolsin than would ever listen to (much less enjoy) Theodore Levin's field recordings of traditional Uzbeki music (see such albums as Asie Centrale: Traditions Classiques or Bukhara: Musical Crossroads Of Asia).
This music was created in two different places: Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Paris. I don't know the specifics of these recording sessions, but I'd guess that the bulk of the traditional music was recorded in Tashkent, and the Paris sessions acted to "modernize" that traditional sound into something hipper and punchier. I'd also hazard to guess that Nazarkhan had more creative control during the Tashkent sessions than she did at the Paris sessions. Heck, I don't even know if she was in Paris for those sessions! And this, I think, is the crucial problem here. For I get the sense that it is the album's producer, Hector Zazou, and not Nazarkhan who is in charge of the album's overall sound.
This is, of course, not a new practice. Bob Marley and the Wailers' first album for Island, Catch a Fire, underwent a "modernization" at the hands of Chris Blackwell, who added rock guitar and organ overdubs onto some of the best reggae songs ever recorded. The results were hailed by some as memorable, but the tracks sound very bland and dated now (while the original version of the album--released a few years ago--is still as fresh as it was back then).
Now, Nazarkhan is no Marley; she herself would admit that. However, she is a very talented artist, and her music deserves a wider audience. Moreover, she is, as I said before, not simply a traditional artist in Uzbekistan--she releases pop music, too. For these reasons, Yol Bolsin is a success. It is smart, engaging, and entertaining. However, I think the album oversaturated production hurts the overall effect of this otherwise fine work. I can imagine a time twenty years from now when a copy of Nazarkhan's music--minus the electronic overdubs--will sound as if it were recorded yesterday, while this album will sound, well, like it was created twenty years ago.
Real World Records
Released in 2003
Listen at Real World Records; buy at CD Roots
Fusion is as combustible in music as it is in nuclear science. It's hard to get the diverse pieces of the musical genres together in just the right way to create something that is not only new and interesting but also faithful to the original genres. This is the dance that has shaped Real World Records since Peter Gabriel established the label back in the early 90s. His original vision was to give "world" artists a chance to be heard by a larger audience. This has worked to some extent, in part because the label releases Gabriel's own music and because the "world beat" music released by other artists on the label is usually given a glossy, Gabrielish pop sheen, making it more palatable to western ears (in the same way Harvey Weinstein edits and rewrites and otherwise commercializes "independent" films so that they can make money).
Of course, the argument against this "fusion" of traditional world and ethnic musics with the commercial world of pop and rock is not as simple as those critical of Real World would suggest. Take Uzbeki singer Sevara Nazarkhan, for example. She is trained in the classical music of Central Asia, and her primary instrument (aside from her wonderful voice) is the dutar, the two-stringed lute that is popular in the region. However, she is also a pop star in Uzbekistan, having recorded with both jazz groups and on her own. In some ways, Nazarkhan's musical heritage is influenced both by the traditional sounds of her Islamic, Central Asian culture and the musical hegemony of western pop and rock music.
What is apparent when listening to Nasarkhan's debut western release, Yol Bolsin, is that she is comfortable in both musical worlds, for this is, without a doubt, a perfect example of "world beat fusion." The songs are primarily Uzbeki traditional and folk melodies, though there are a few more contemporary numbers thrown in as well. Likewise, the dutar is featured prominently, especially in the beginning of "Moghulchai Navo (Moghul Melody)," where it provides not only the song's intro but also its key melodic line. There are also other Uzbek instruments featured here, especially the percussion instruments (big drums, snapping finger cymbals, stuff like that). However, these traditional elements are shaped and molded around the glowing warmth of samplers, synths, drum machines, and studio wizardry. Don't get me wrong--the music never loses its Uzbeki feel, but that feel is wrapped up in a modern, western package. Is this a good thing? Well, I suppose from a marketing standpoint I would say yes, since there's a good chance more westerners will listen to and enjoy Yol Bolsin than would ever listen to (much less enjoy) Theodore Levin's field recordings of traditional Uzbeki music (see such albums as Asie Centrale: Traditions Classiques or Bukhara: Musical Crossroads Of Asia).
This music was created in two different places: Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Paris. I don't know the specifics of these recording sessions, but I'd guess that the bulk of the traditional music was recorded in Tashkent, and the Paris sessions acted to "modernize" that traditional sound into something hipper and punchier. I'd also hazard to guess that Nazarkhan had more creative control during the Tashkent sessions than she did at the Paris sessions. Heck, I don't even know if she was in Paris for those sessions! And this, I think, is the crucial problem here. For I get the sense that it is the album's producer, Hector Zazou, and not Nazarkhan who is in charge of the album's overall sound.
This is, of course, not a new practice. Bob Marley and the Wailers' first album for Island, Catch a Fire, underwent a "modernization" at the hands of Chris Blackwell, who added rock guitar and organ overdubs onto some of the best reggae songs ever recorded. The results were hailed by some as memorable, but the tracks sound very bland and dated now (while the original version of the album--released a few years ago--is still as fresh as it was back then).
Now, Nazarkhan is no Marley; she herself would admit that. However, she is a very talented artist, and her music deserves a wider audience. Moreover, she is, as I said before, not simply a traditional artist in Uzbekistan--she releases pop music, too. For these reasons, Yol Bolsin is a success. It is smart, engaging, and entertaining. However, I think the album oversaturated production hurts the overall effect of this otherwise fine work. I can imagine a time twenty years from now when a copy of Nazarkhan's music--minus the electronic overdubs--will sound as if it were recorded yesterday, while this album will sound, well, like it was created twenty years ago.
7.22.2003
Album Review: Salamat Sadikova, The Voice of Kyrgyzstan
Frequency Glide Enterprises
Released in 2001
Listen and Buy at kyrgyzmusic.com
To the list of the great female vocalists of the recording era—Billie Holliday, Sandy Denny, Aretha Franklin, Edith Piaf, and so on—add one more name: Salamat Sadikova. Never heard of her? You're not alone. Name recognition doesn't come easy for anyone in Kyrgyzstan, the most remote and isolated of former Soviet Central Asian republics. But one listen any track on The Voice of Kyrgyzstan is all it takes to realize that Sadikova is that rare artist who can transform the simplest music into something truly magical.
There are two major strands of Central Asian traditional music: the "classical" or "court" Islamic music created in the religious centers of Samarkand and Bukhara and the folk music of the various Turkomen and Persian peoples who populate the rural areas. The classical tradition is fascinating, though the instrumentation and extreme, elongated vocal exultations sounds a bit odd to western ears. The folk music, however, is entirely familiar to any European listener. The songs are simple, verse-based affairs, with topics ranging from religion to animals to love (like any folk music). The musical accompaniment is usually simple: a stringed instrument of some kind, various drums, and occasionally an oboe-like wind instrument (imagine early Fairport Convention sung in Mongolian, and you'll have the basic idea). Most importantly, the songs usually call for rich, powerful voices to transform these seemingly simple songs into something special.
No one does a better job transforming folk music into something special than Sadikova. Though most of the songs on The Voice of Kyrgyzstan are recent compositions (including one by Sadikova herself), they all seem stepped in tradition, as though the album's producer, Californian Mark Humphrey, traveled back in time 700 years to record some peasant woman performing ancient songs she learned from her mother before her. Humphrey manages this illusion by keeping things simple: all we hear is Sadikova's voice and her komuz (a three-stringed, fretless lute), save for two songs, where she is accompanied by the Kambarkan Ensemble. There are no studio tricks here to make the sound richer or more powerful; frankly, those things are not necessary, as Sadikova's voice is powerful enough.
It's not easy to create engaging, exciting music using only two basic instruments (a voice and a lute). But each track here is a tiny miracle and a testament to this woman's musical gifts, a gift that transcends language barriers with ease. There aren't many people outside Kyrgyzstan who speak Kyrgyz, but that's immaterial here. The emotions that seep through when Sadikova sings "Parizat (Angel)," a traditional song, are unmistakably sad, mournful, and evocative; I don't need the liner notes to tell me what the tune is about (though the liner notes are extremely well-written and very detailed, offering those of us who have no knowledge of this region a sense of its musical heritage).
This music was recorded in 2000 and released in the United States in 2001. However, because it was released on an extremely small, online-only label, few have heard this music, let alone reviewed it. That's a true shame, since this is some of the best music from this region of the world that I've ever heard (and I've heard a lot). This might be some of the best music the world's never heard, so check it out as soon as you can.
Frequency Glide Enterprises
Released in 2001
Listen and Buy at kyrgyzmusic.com
To the list of the great female vocalists of the recording era—Billie Holliday, Sandy Denny, Aretha Franklin, Edith Piaf, and so on—add one more name: Salamat Sadikova. Never heard of her? You're not alone. Name recognition doesn't come easy for anyone in Kyrgyzstan, the most remote and isolated of former Soviet Central Asian republics. But one listen any track on The Voice of Kyrgyzstan is all it takes to realize that Sadikova is that rare artist who can transform the simplest music into something truly magical.There are two major strands of Central Asian traditional music: the "classical" or "court" Islamic music created in the religious centers of Samarkand and Bukhara and the folk music of the various Turkomen and Persian peoples who populate the rural areas. The classical tradition is fascinating, though the instrumentation and extreme, elongated vocal exultations sounds a bit odd to western ears. The folk music, however, is entirely familiar to any European listener. The songs are simple, verse-based affairs, with topics ranging from religion to animals to love (like any folk music). The musical accompaniment is usually simple: a stringed instrument of some kind, various drums, and occasionally an oboe-like wind instrument (imagine early Fairport Convention sung in Mongolian, and you'll have the basic idea). Most importantly, the songs usually call for rich, powerful voices to transform these seemingly simple songs into something special.
No one does a better job transforming folk music into something special than Sadikova. Though most of the songs on The Voice of Kyrgyzstan are recent compositions (including one by Sadikova herself), they all seem stepped in tradition, as though the album's producer, Californian Mark Humphrey, traveled back in time 700 years to record some peasant woman performing ancient songs she learned from her mother before her. Humphrey manages this illusion by keeping things simple: all we hear is Sadikova's voice and her komuz (a three-stringed, fretless lute), save for two songs, where she is accompanied by the Kambarkan Ensemble. There are no studio tricks here to make the sound richer or more powerful; frankly, those things are not necessary, as Sadikova's voice is powerful enough.
It's not easy to create engaging, exciting music using only two basic instruments (a voice and a lute). But each track here is a tiny miracle and a testament to this woman's musical gifts, a gift that transcends language barriers with ease. There aren't many people outside Kyrgyzstan who speak Kyrgyz, but that's immaterial here. The emotions that seep through when Sadikova sings "Parizat (Angel)," a traditional song, are unmistakably sad, mournful, and evocative; I don't need the liner notes to tell me what the tune is about (though the liner notes are extremely well-written and very detailed, offering those of us who have no knowledge of this region a sense of its musical heritage).
This music was recorded in 2000 and released in the United States in 2001. However, because it was released on an extremely small, online-only label, few have heard this music, let alone reviewed it. That's a true shame, since this is some of the best music from this region of the world that I've ever heard (and I've heard a lot). This might be some of the best music the world's never heard, so check it out as soon as you can.
7.21.2003
Album Review: V/A, The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Released in 2002
Listen and Buy at Amazon
The concept of a "Silk Road" is as much a product of imagination as it is a product of history. From about 200 BCE to 1500 CE, the various Silk Roads served as the primary trade routes between Asia and Europe. However, the term "Silk Road" was coined in the 19th century by the German explorer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen; hence, the concept of a Silk Road (as we know it) only existed after the original Silk Road had been dead for 400 years. This term, moreover, was used to bring up images (for Europeans) of mystical explorations to distant, exciting, and dangerous lands beyond the Ural Mountains. The Silk Road, in short, is a product of 19th century colonialism—a force that, to a large extent, was shaped by cultural attitudes that separated normal, European life from the "alien" and abnormal life lived by people in other parts of the world.
Isn't it interesting, then, that a Chinese musician, Yo-Yo Ma, would oversee the Silk Road Project, a project designed (in the words of its web site) "to illuminate the Silk Road's historical contribution to the diffusion of art and culture, identify current voices that best represent this cultural legacy and support new collaborations among artists." At first glance, it seems like the project, in using the metaphor of the Silk Road, is reaffirming all the Oriental stereotypes—mysterious, drug-induced, romantic images of nomads and despots—that helped shape the European colonial period (that helped make Asia the Orient). Granted, these stereotypes are (here) clouded by the politically correct language of the project's "vision" and by the fact that the whole thing is (largely) a tax write-off for Ford, Siemens, and Sony (the project's sponsors), making the whole thing seem just like another PBS exercise in faux-multiculturalism for the Starbucks crowd. Still, I kept wondering why Yo-Yo Ma would create this blatant exploitation of traditional Asian art.
Ah, but then I heard the music on The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan, and I understood. This is not just some cheap attempt to capitalize on the weird sounds of China and Central Asia. This is not just some attempt to put strange instruments into a Western context. On the contrary, this is out and out traditional music, music that has lasted for thousands of years and hundreds of generations of musicians. This is the real thing.
What you get on this 2-CD collection is traditional music from countries all along the mythical Silk Road, from Turkey and Armenia in the west to Mongolia, China, and Japan in the east, and all the countries in between (especially Iran and the former Soviet Republics like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). The music is played on traditional instruments like the dutar, duduk, tar, shakuhachi, sato, satar, tanbur, and dombra, along with more familiar instruments like the violin. The musicians are all masters in their own countries, and are descendant from a long line of masters stretching back hundreds, even thousands of years. Some of the names, like the Uzbeki Turgun Alimatov, might be familiar to those die-hard world music aficionados, but most artists are unknown to those of us in the west—though, after hearing their work here, you might be encouraged to rush out (as I did) to learn more.
That the music on the collection is taken from so many different countries and cultures suggests a disjointed work, a work whose pieces wouldn't and couldn't fit together. But no—this work is incredibly cohesive, due in large part to the efforts of the album's producers, ethnomusicologists Jean During and Ted Levin. They manage the take the concept of the Silk Road at face value: an economic necessity that, as almost as an afterthought, created a unique blurring of borders, identities, and (in this case) musical heritages. For example, though Iran is quite different from Mongolia, the representative works from these cultures demonstrate their shared similarities, such as the wailing vocal style that seems (to me) to be an imitation of the wailing sound of many stringed instruments like the violin and the morin khuur. Hence, the Mongolian urtyn duu (long song) "The River Herlen" and the Iranian classical song "Mokhalef," while entirely different compositions from entirely different musical cultures, nevertheless share traits that enable us, western listeners, to better appreciate the interchange of cultural traditions and customs that was so much a part of the real Silk Road. During and Levin also smartly organize these two disks, putting the more "classical" composition on disk one and putting the more traditional or "folk" compositions on disk two. Doing this allows us to better appreciate the many sides to the musical cultures of these interesting corners of the world. Finally, During and Levin, because they are experts in the music of these areas, chose the very finest artists to participate in this collection, meaning that what we hear on this recording is the very best music you're likely to hear in this region of the world.
This is a wonderful collection that manages to redeem the whole Silk Road project in my eyes, due largely to the fact that the collection is about the music itself and not about trying to pander to various western audiences. If you are at all interested in listening to what the rest of the world considers music, then get this release, as it will open your ears to new sounds and to musical cultures that (unlike our own) aren't based on the last ten minutes.
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Released in 2002
Listen and Buy at Amazon
The concept of a "Silk Road" is as much a product of imagination as it is a product of history. From about 200 BCE to 1500 CE, the various Silk Roads served as the primary trade routes between Asia and Europe. However, the term "Silk Road" was coined in the 19th century by the German explorer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen; hence, the concept of a Silk Road (as we know it) only existed after the original Silk Road had been dead for 400 years. This term, moreover, was used to bring up images (for Europeans) of mystical explorations to distant, exciting, and dangerous lands beyond the Ural Mountains. The Silk Road, in short, is a product of 19th century colonialism—a force that, to a large extent, was shaped by cultural attitudes that separated normal, European life from the "alien" and abnormal life lived by people in other parts of the world.
Isn't it interesting, then, that a Chinese musician, Yo-Yo Ma, would oversee the Silk Road Project, a project designed (in the words of its web site) "to illuminate the Silk Road's historical contribution to the diffusion of art and culture, identify current voices that best represent this cultural legacy and support new collaborations among artists." At first glance, it seems like the project, in using the metaphor of the Silk Road, is reaffirming all the Oriental stereotypes—mysterious, drug-induced, romantic images of nomads and despots—that helped shape the European colonial period (that helped make Asia the Orient). Granted, these stereotypes are (here) clouded by the politically correct language of the project's "vision" and by the fact that the whole thing is (largely) a tax write-off for Ford, Siemens, and Sony (the project's sponsors), making the whole thing seem just like another PBS exercise in faux-multiculturalism for the Starbucks crowd. Still, I kept wondering why Yo-Yo Ma would create this blatant exploitation of traditional Asian art.
Ah, but then I heard the music on The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan, and I understood. This is not just some cheap attempt to capitalize on the weird sounds of China and Central Asia. This is not just some attempt to put strange instruments into a Western context. On the contrary, this is out and out traditional music, music that has lasted for thousands of years and hundreds of generations of musicians. This is the real thing.
What you get on this 2-CD collection is traditional music from countries all along the mythical Silk Road, from Turkey and Armenia in the west to Mongolia, China, and Japan in the east, and all the countries in between (especially Iran and the former Soviet Republics like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). The music is played on traditional instruments like the dutar, duduk, tar, shakuhachi, sato, satar, tanbur, and dombra, along with more familiar instruments like the violin. The musicians are all masters in their own countries, and are descendant from a long line of masters stretching back hundreds, even thousands of years. Some of the names, like the Uzbeki Turgun Alimatov, might be familiar to those die-hard world music aficionados, but most artists are unknown to those of us in the west—though, after hearing their work here, you might be encouraged to rush out (as I did) to learn more.
That the music on the collection is taken from so many different countries and cultures suggests a disjointed work, a work whose pieces wouldn't and couldn't fit together. But no—this work is incredibly cohesive, due in large part to the efforts of the album's producers, ethnomusicologists Jean During and Ted Levin. They manage the take the concept of the Silk Road at face value: an economic necessity that, as almost as an afterthought, created a unique blurring of borders, identities, and (in this case) musical heritages. For example, though Iran is quite different from Mongolia, the representative works from these cultures demonstrate their shared similarities, such as the wailing vocal style that seems (to me) to be an imitation of the wailing sound of many stringed instruments like the violin and the morin khuur. Hence, the Mongolian urtyn duu (long song) "The River Herlen" and the Iranian classical song "Mokhalef," while entirely different compositions from entirely different musical cultures, nevertheless share traits that enable us, western listeners, to better appreciate the interchange of cultural traditions and customs that was so much a part of the real Silk Road. During and Levin also smartly organize these two disks, putting the more "classical" composition on disk one and putting the more traditional or "folk" compositions on disk two. Doing this allows us to better appreciate the many sides to the musical cultures of these interesting corners of the world. Finally, During and Levin, because they are experts in the music of these areas, chose the very finest artists to participate in this collection, meaning that what we hear on this recording is the very best music you're likely to hear in this region of the world.
This is a wonderful collection that manages to redeem the whole Silk Road project in my eyes, due largely to the fact that the collection is about the music itself and not about trying to pander to various western audiences. If you are at all interested in listening to what the rest of the world considers music, then get this release, as it will open your ears to new sounds and to musical cultures that (unlike our own) aren't based on the last ten minutes.
