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Jadid Ensemble : Sigh of the Moor (UK,2011)****
Jadid Ensemble led by Glen Sharp consists of players with an impressive multitude of educated and experienced background, which I will try to summerise a little. Composer/guitarist Glenn Sharp (also from flamenco group Calaita) studied classical guitar at Dartington College of Arts and popular music and production at Salford University and has studied oud and flamenco guitar. Paul Cheneour on flutes, neys (=Turkish flutes) ranges in style from classical to jazz, over fusion to Arab and Indian music styles. Olivia Moore on violin (The Owl ensemble, Myke Wilson, John Ellis, Sylvan Richardson, Danny Norbury, Fiona Peterson studied Classical violin and later improvisation through jazz, Cuban music and flamenco, and also Indian violin in Bombay. Adam Warne (Baladi Blues Ensemble, live work with Natacha Atlas' Mazeeka Ensemble and the Al Teslim Ensemble) on percussion (drumkit, congas, djembe, cajun, frame drums, darbuka, ..) with his main instrument the Egyptian riq, studied Indian tabla, African, Cuban and Brazilian drums played Indian fusion and later Mediterranean with Giuliano Moderelli and Olivia Moore and a few others. Gavin Barras (European Union Quartet) on double bass is mostly a jazz player although he has a classical education.
'Jadid ensemble' means something like 'the new ensemble', referring to a renewal and as well as breaking in tradition, for them it means starting from an eduction in many traditions, from classical music to world music genres, especially keeping roots in Arab music improvisation and flamenco guitar skills. The tracks above all are still somewhat melodic, you can hear how Glen Sharps ideas come from playing the oud, or less frequently as a starting point the flamenco guitar. The flamenco ideas mostly are used to expand, colour and overlap other ideas, making a subtly mixed world, accompanied by smooth, mostly Middle Eastern or perhaps Persian rhythms, bass and with additional rather Indian-styled but also fusing violin (with here and there noticeable classical music origins). The foundational ideas aren't making it too complicated. There's a mood and a melody hanging, a combined rhythm (especially on “The storyteller” being a mixture of Arab rhythms with flamenco hand claps), a simple thought leading to the next in full worked out moody arrangements. Also the flute additions add extra moody flavours, the Turkish ney alone is capable of doing so.
A very convincing album to listen to.
(The release is a custom made exact CD-replica CDR (hardly indentificable as one). I hope they will consider a real CD some day despite the extra tax pay-offs when making one, at least the music will in that case be protected longer).
