Anthologie Musicale de la Péninsule Arabique Vol. 4: Le Chant des Femmes

Anthologie Musicale De La Péninsule Arabique
Vol. 4: Le Chant des Femmes
A Musical Anthology of the Arabian Peninsula
Vol. 4: Women's Songs

Simon Jargy Collection
Recorded in 1968-1990
Released in 1994, Disques VDE-Gallo

01-02. Chants de mer (Sea Songs)
03-14. Chants de mariage (Wedding Songs)
15-19. Chans de l'enfance et du travail (Childhood and Working Songs)



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Dariush Tala'i - Radif Volume I (1994)

"The Radif is a serious and introverted music with extreme refinement and richness in ornaments. The repertory of Persian Art Music together with its traditional order of classification is called the Radif. A repertory of melodies that have been collected by different people and added to the repertory at different times. This repertory is not like Western Art Music, which is composed and intended to be played exactly as written. It is made up of traditional melodies, many of which are derived from popular and folk sources ; their origins have been obscured with the passage of time.
This repertory was organized by musicians to be used both for performance and instruction. More specifically it provides a multitude of model melodies (about 250) which is used like prototypes as a point of departure for improvised performance and composition of set pieces. The oldest Radif that we know about comes from two masters of the Radif, Mirza Abdullah (1843-1918) and Aqa Hosein Qoli (died 1913). These two brothers spent their whole lives teaching their radif with an incredible conviction and rigor and educated the test musicians of the following generation. The students were supposed to memorize the entire repertory; therefore, it was important that the Radif be both complete and brief ; and hence, as concise as possible. Moreover, since the intention was to make the radif concise, and since different people played the same melody in different ways, the masters selected from among the versions of a melody to create their Radif.
To understand the concept of the Radif, we must first understand that the Radif and the modal system are not the same thing.The characteristic of melodies (which are called gusheh-s) are as important as their relationship. The position of each melody in the Radif is determined by its modals characteristics.The performance of Persian Music is made by the multi-modal structures which in each system (dastgâh or âvâz) a number of gusheh-s demonstrate the different part of the system.
Since the idea of a Radif originated with a family of musicians who played the Tar and the Setar, the earliest Radif-s are intimately linked to these instruments. Moreover, because the precise use of the mezrab (plectrum or nail) was very important for performance on the Tarr and Setar, the melodies, often derived from vocal sources and added to the repertory of these instruments, necessarily became more regularized and structured. They also took on the style of performance of those musicians, who, since the y were scholars of the musical tradition and fine artists, transformed the melodies int0 a very elaborate and cerebral form of Art Music".
Dariush Tala'i

1-30. Dastgâh-e Shur (28.21)

31-35. Pièces Rythmiques de Shur (30.03)
36-42. Âvaz-e Bayât-e Kord (8.08)

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Abd Al-Hayy Hilmi 1908-1910 (1993)

Abd-al Hayy Hilmî was born circa 1857 in Bani Suwayf, Middle Egypt. He was able to meet the greatest voices of the late 19th century during the private concerts organized by his employer, a wealthy Alexandrian merchant. Through constant contact with the millieu, he eventually mastered a large repertoire, ranging from adwâr composed by court-patronized musicians to qâsida - classical poems, which were introduced into secular music by former sûfî cantors... Not quite as aristocratically oriented as Hamûlî or Manyalâwî, Hilmî was among the first major singers to perform for paying audiences in outdoor public concerts or in the prestigious café-chantants of Azbakiyya Square in Cairo. He was nevertheless a dazzling attraction for upper-class salons, and sung for Ottoman princes in 1910.A seductive coqquettish man, whose stylish Parisian tastes ruined his protectors, Abd al-Havy was to become the spoilt child of Egyptian high society at the turn of the century... An inveterate drinker, he would use various drugs to reach the state of saltana, necessary to unleash his extemporizing creativity. He died in Alexandria in 1912, after heavily overindulging in turtle and liquor during a feast.

Abd al-Hayy exposes the compositions to his own mania, summing up the introduction, livening up the composed thread of the melody, neglecting entire sections of the canvas so as to privilege one verse, one standstill in a particular modal color, to which he adds a tragic and hallucinated touch, displaying a wide range of virtuosistic effects shifting from long melodic phrases to a jerky staccato, interrupting the instruments with another dramatic piece of embroidery over the heady main theme... His lack of respect for rhythm and composition is well-known, and laid him open to harsh criticism from Rigorists... His ardor naturally finds its best expression in mawwâls, where the non-metrical improvisation in the framework of a maqâm is the only rule. In this field he remains unmatchable. This CD includes a selection of early tracks, dating 1908-1910.
Frédéric Lagrange, liner notes

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Duke Ellington - The Far East Suite (1967)

"Duke Ellington was just the kind of American the whole world could love. President Kennedy realized this when he dispatched Ellington on a tour of the Middle and Near East in 1963. With Duke as musical ambassador, Kennedy hoped to win the hearts and minds of the peoples of the East. Dutifully, Duke Ellington led his caravan of mighty musicians through the exotic cities of Amman, Baghdad, Ceylon, Tehran, Bombay, and Ankra. They performed the classic Ellington songs, all the while absorbing the sounds of what Ellington described as "a world upside down." Rather than trying to reproduce the music they heard on their journey through the East, Ellington and Strayhorn "let it roll around, undergo a chemical change, and then seep out on paper."

By opening The Far East Suite with a song entitled "Tourist Point of View," Ellington makes it clear that the album’s Eastern sounds are no more than the musical impressions of two Westerners. "Tourist Point of View" is fresh, dramatic, and mysterious—as the East always appears to unfamiliar eyes. With a nimble hand on the cymbals, the drumming of newcomer Rufus Jones is a key ingredient on the record—adding layers of Eastern infused polyrhythms to the mix. Johnny Hodges is spectacular on all of the album's nine original compositions, but nowhere is his playing more lush and evocative as on the beautiful "Isfahan." The song is one of the greatest examples of the writing genius of Ellington and Strayhorn. The fact that "Isfahan" was recorded in only two takes demonstrates the deep empathy of the entire band to the musical visions of Ellington/Strayhorn.

And when the individual musicians step out, every solo they take adds perfectly to the distinct vibe of each song. On the hard swinging "Blue Pepper (Far East of the Blues), Johnny Hodges rocks the house with a surprisingly mean tone. Jimmy Hamilton’s graceful clarinet playing is showcased throughout "Ad Lib On Nippon," an 11-minute Ellington composition inspired by his many visits to Japan. This lengthy track gives Ellington room to really stretch out on piano, highlighting his often overlooked playing. (...) Duke Ellington and his musical tribe "didn't want to do anything others had done before" when they set out to make The Far East Suite. The phenomenally accessible yet unprecedented music that they recorded over three days in 1966 is proof of just how brilliantly they succeeded.

John Ballon

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