Al Andaluz
/ Al Andaluz Oslo
salt-peanuts.eu |
spotify.com
Pro Musica PPC9083
2021
[44:42]
1. Had el achq aliya [3:53]
2. Li ayyi sabab [4:36]
3. Ya mouqabil [3:05]
4. Ya ragbat elbellar [6:57]
Wasla Maqam Asbain
5. Bugya [1:30]
6. Taksim [1:49]
7. Mawal [4:17]
8. Alla ya modira [3:52]
9. Noches, noches [4:24]
Cantigas de Santa Maria
10. Quen vai contra Santa Maria [5:23]
CSM 283
11. Por nos, Virgen Madre [4:56]
CSM 250
The Norwegian, Oslo-based Al Andaluz band realizes the musical vision
of musician-lute player-instruments builder Sverre Jensen who explores
medieval music for more than thirty years now. Jensen has built
authentic instruments based on ancient sculptures, illustrations from
medieval manuscripts and instruments from North Africa of today for the
debut album of Al Andaluz, released after fifteen years of activity.
Al Andaluz imagines and in its own way recreates the Andalusian
classical music of the Middle Ages. An era often describes as the
Golden Age of the Spanish kingdom when Arabs, Christians and Jews lived
peacefully side by side and Spain was a leading cultural midpoint for
the entire European continent, and Spanish-Arab musicians were sought
after as court musicians by the European royals. The music of that era
was not written down, but maintained and preserved to this day in North
Africa among the descendants of the Spanish Arabs who settled down in
Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, who still call it Andalusian music. The
songs of the Spanish Jews – Sephardic Jews, who had to leave
Spain in 1492 and then settle down in other Mediterranean countries,
kept their ancestors’ Spanish language – now called Ladino,
and much of their ballad tradition to this day.
A Morrocan friend of Jensen told him that Andalusian music has been
found to have a calming and beneficial effect on patients with nervous
and mental disorders! But even casual, relaxed listeners, especially
from much colder and darker territories, may enjoy the tasteful and
colorful arrangements of these ancient songs. Local folk singer Liv
Ulvik’s operatic voice charge these songs with passion, grace and
elegance, and the Andaluz ensemble – Jensen on the oud-like lute,
flutist Mona Hansen, rebab player-fiddler Kristine Rustad, and
percussionist Ulrik Ibsen Thorsrud and Tomas Nilsson – add to
these devotional and love songs a timeless aroma.
Eyal Hareuveni
Sverre Jensen — lute
Liv Ulvik — voice
Mona Hansen — flute
Kristine Rustad — rebab, violin
Ulrik Ibsen Thorsrud — percussion
Tomas Nilsson — percussion