KOBANE

KOBANE

The modern day destiny of the Kurdish people is at the heart of this album, beginning with an instrumental and vocal piece which gives it its title, Kobane.  This hymn to the city that is both a martyr and a victory on the Syrian border, in which the text states that the Sirvan River protects Zoroastrianism’s sacred fire, interconnects traditional melodies and percussion instruments unmasking exchanges and an opening onto that world, confirming that no culture will ever again be inaccessible.

Sohrab Pournazeri's (composer) singer, tanbur and kamanche player and percussionist, Hussein Zahawy (musical director) gather Ertan Tekin who plays the zorna, balaban and duduk, the singer, Donya Kamali, African percussion specialist, Robin Vassy, and the santur player, Mayar Toreihi.  Together, they make music that is no longer obviously from the villages, but it has kept this radiant and combative soul which has passed through through the centuries.  This music which sketches a future that is open to the world seems like a rebound, a bridging, an awakening.  And this sound here pierces through the roar of guns.