Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian: Oud Masterpieces (Arc/Elite)

 |   |  <1 min read

Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian: Sevan Tsgnorsner
Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian: Oud Masterpieces (Arc/Elite)

The oud -- a Middle Eastern ancestor of the European lute -- has an earthy but elevating sound and is heard from Egypt to Armenia, and in Massachusetts where Bardezbanian lives. While a student of composition at Berklee in Boston, he held down a gig playing in a Greek taverna, which accounts for the broad reach of this album: from his Armenian heritage to Greece, Bulgaria to Turkey.

The upbeat tracks sound like the prelude to some serious plate-smashing, but the real gems are the more brooding numbers and the romantic songs.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   World Music from Elsewhere articles index

Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni ba: Jama ko (Out Here/Southbound)

Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni ba: Jama ko (Out Here/Southbound)

It has been five years since this superb ngoni player (a lute/banjo-like instrument) from Mali delivered his beautiful Segu Blue album. Formerly a member of the late Ali Farka Toure's inner circle,... > Read more

THE TIMETABLE FOR WOMAD TARANAKI 2016

THE TIMETABLE FOR WOMAD TARANAKI 2016

The annual Womad festival in New Plymouth is one of the high points in New Zealand's musical calendar because, if for no other reason, it brings musicians from all over the world into our sight... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

MARK RUTLEDGE INTERVIEWED (2014): Large scale rock'n'roll art

MARK RUTLEDGE INTERVIEWED (2014): Large scale rock'n'roll art

Every month the popular British music magazine Mojo commissions an artist to do the illustration which accompanies their lead review. Among the big names whose work has appeared there have been... > Read more

FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN, a film by OLIVER HIRSCHBIEGEL (Madman DVD)

FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN, a film by OLIVER HIRSCHBIEGEL (Madman DVD)

Although this seems to have all the hallmarks of a stage play adapted for the screen, Five Minutes to Heaven (by the director of the gripping Hitler-bunker drama Downfalll) is based on a true story... > Read more