Search - Basya Schechter :: Queens Dominion

Joyfully melancholic

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 11/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Brooklyn born Basya Schechter, leader of the stellar Jewish roots world jazz band Pharaoh's Daughter, here delivers an all-instrumental album of great depth and spirituality. An oud player of uncommon accomplishment, she seems to have a natural affinity for this odd instrument's timbral universe, one which evokes sounds similar to those one associates with a lute, a bouzouki, a sarod, even a berimbau. It's an earthy, emotionally laden sound, one that wafts and slithers off desert sands like the cool even breeze that presages a precipitous nighttime temperature drop in arid landscapes.



One of the keys in making this music come alive is the playing of Alan Kushan on santur, an instrument that sounds like a cross between a zither, a koto, and a prepared piano, lending the aural palette a very oriental cast. Kushan makes this awkward instrument dance and sing with a deeply delved authority and weight. Also contributing mightily is percussionist Jerrod Cagwin, a player whom I've only encountered once before (and I just can't seem to pull up the context, although I remember him being a player of significance), but who here consistently establishes very evocative percussive underpinnings. And Meg Okura shines on violin. Add the coloration of recorder, trumpet, melodica, and cello, and you've got a wide and engaging sound canvas.



Rather simple sounding on the first couple listens, closer attending begins to reveal music of profound nuance and subtlety. There's also a kind of mesmeric, dronelike quality to this music that conjures up feelings of wisdom and tranquility achieved through great suffering. Certainly worth checking out by anyone at all attracted to mystical music of the Middle East."

Haunting and beautiful

milkweed beetle | United States | 10/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had the priviledge to hear this music live and found it mesmerizing and challenging. Since I've bought the CD, and listened to it a number of times, the music has really grown on me. I think that it's terribly original but there are some beautiful repeated melodies that unify the albumn and remind me of early 20th century French composition, but then we get arabic rhythms and lots of other stuff without sounding too eclectic, at least to my ears. I've never heard anything like this, especially since there are influences from the Far East as well as Middle East and European. While the santur and oud are the central instruments, Basya draws upon the many talents of her classically trained musicians including Meg Okura (violin) and Daphna Mor (recorder). This is probably ideal music for taking your mind out of the present, if that's where you'd like to go."

Evocative, bridging arabic, early european, and central euro

mayadevi | santa cruz california | 04/25/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm delighted to discover this treasure as I dig through the rubble at Amazon and I'm so grateful for women of conscience like Basya. This collection is full of her love for melodies that tell a story and the dances between different voices of strings, recorder and rhythms that challenge our dumbed down addiction to everything 4/4. By Way of Haran, has me voyaging into deep states of prayer for the peace of all beings and dancing in my garden. I feel blessed by this music and you will too."