Search - Various Artists :: Music of Islam

A magnificent achievement

Dennis M. Clark | San Francisco, CA USA | 09/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this set mainly to to fill in the gaps in my collection, because I really love Turkish, Iranian, and Moroccan music, and was not familiar with traditional music from places like Yemen and Egypt. This set far exceeded my highest expectations. The excellence of the performances and the superb recording engineering are enough to recommend it, but even more so, the compiler, David Parsons, has done a tremendous job showing us the incredible variety of Islamic music. Every region represented has its own complex and rich tradition, and it's fascinating to listen for the connections with the various Islamic musical styles as well as relationships to other music. For example, imagine listening to musicians playing on location in a dry creek bed in the Sudan and then suddenly hearing rhythmic hand-clapping with obvious affinities for Andalusian (or Spanish flamenco) styles. And it's also very hard to resist singing along with the musicians from Yemen, if only my hopelessly Western voice could handle those microtones. The essays accompanying the various recordings are very interesting, and Mr. Parsons writes beautifully about the historical complexities of attitudes between Islamic and non-Islamic worlds. In addition to the pure musical enjoyment, I believe that this set of recordings will bring me (and I hope many other listeners) to a better understanding of Islamic culture and beliefs."

A Great Sound Document

Dennis M. Clark | 09/15/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this box set four years ago when it first came out and for the first 4 or 5 months thereafter it was the only thing I listened to. Each volume covers a different musical territory and some of those styles were very new to me, requiring multiple listenings to tune my ears so I could better appreciate it.
Recorded in Morocco, Egypt, Tunesia, Turkey, Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran and Qatar, each disc has something special on it. Sublime Andalusian music of Morocco. Fantastic Iraqi oud pieces from Qatar. Classical and tribal music of Egypt. Gorgeous singing from Yemen. The list goes on. Many of these are field recordings made with a portable digital recorder and stereo microphone. A beautiful example is the disc of Bedouin singers recorded in a caravan camp on a dry river bed under the full moon in the South Sinai Desert. When possible, the musical producer, New Zealander David Parsons, also recorded in studios where modern digital technology was available. It took 10 years for Parsons to put together this set. Unlike many 2 or 3 volume music compilations, this series allows you to more fully immerse yourself into each musical style.
Not to detract in any way from Mr. Parsons monumental work, I should state that this series in no way covers the full range of Islamic music. That's just an indication of how large the Islamic World is. The countries of Labanon, Syria, Jordan Afghanistan, Turkistan, Dagestan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Burma, Thailand, and the Philippines are not represented here, nor are the Islamic populations of sub-Saharan Africa and South Eastern Europe (the Balkans), nor are many ethnic groups, including the Gypsies, each with their own musical styles and traditions. There are also many musical styles from the Arabian Peninsula that are not represented here. It would be too much to expect one person to cover that entire field. This is still a magnificent work. The music is beautiful.
The price of this set, framed in a lovely wooden box, is higher than many will want to spend on themselves. Think of it as a gift for someone. Look at it this way, if you love someone, aren't they worth at least $$$.?
Music has a way of crossing barriers at a time when bridges need to be built. As David Parsons once put it, when people are sitting around playing music together, or singing and dancing, they usually aren't mowing each other down with machine guns. For many reasons this is an important sound document. `"

A road map to many delightful places

Paul A. Baker | Madison, Wis., US | 01/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For several months I have used this collection as a starting point for programming my radio program, Caravan, on WSUM FM in Madison, Wis. Many countries and many cultures find their voices in these discs. The recording quality is excellent, as are the liner notes, which provide information about the performers, about the style(s) of music on each disc, and about the music of Islam in general. This set offers a spectrum of styles and, although it's impossible to offer generalizations about the music, I can say it's a tour worth taking."