Jon Balke, Amina Alaoui – Siwa (2009)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:19 minutes | 1,27 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ECM
Magical music, trailing deep roots. The listener is at first struck by the power of Amina Alaoui’s voice, soaring above Jon Balke’s remarkable compositions for baroque ensemble – with soloists drawn from jazz, scattered improvisational traditions, and the world of early music. Behind this remarkable musical integration is a web of philosophical, historical, and literary interconnections, as Balke and Alaoui set texts from Sufi poets, Christian mystics, troubadours and more and – inspired by the tolerant and creative spirit of medieval Al-Andalus – ponder what was lost to the bonfires of the Inquisition. Setting new standards in transcultural music, SIWAN shows what can be made today when artists of the most divergent background pool their energies.
On his latest project, Siwan, Norwegian pianist and composer Jon Balke blends a variety of traditional musical styles, finding common ground among their cultural and geographical differences. Calling on inspirations from Sufi, Christian and Jewish mysticism, Balke imagines a melding of European and Middle Eastern cultures free from the stifling flames of the Inquisition.
Read more