AVAILABLE NOW:
Tunisian Oud Master DHAFER YOUSSEF Releases
New Album, Birds Requiem, on OKeh Records
11 Interconnected Compositions
Inspire Music for an Imagined Movie
"[Youssef] possesses a voice that can scream with existential pain or
soar in joyous bliss; as much a component of his music as his equally fine instrumental skil
The
oud-the 11-string, fretless, acoustic relative of the lute so central
to the culture of the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean-is
inextricably tied to tradition, more than 5,000 years of it. But in the
hands of Dhafer Youssef,
one of the most highly respected and influential virtuosi of the
instrument in the world, the oud takes a giant leap into the future. For
more than two decades, Youssef has paid his respects to the ancient
legacy of the oud while integrating its melodious, robust and
resonant-but simultaneously delicate tones-with modern sounds and
sensibilities, transcending genre and defying the expected. On his new
album Birds Requiem
(available now on OKeh Records) Youssef has created his most
breathtakingly powerful work to date, a suite of 11 interconnected
compositions that, he says, were "constructed as music for an imagined
movie."
Recorded primarily in Gothenburg, Sweden, with additional recording in Istanbul, Birds Requiem features Youssef on oud and vocals, clarinetist Hüsnü Senlendirici, trumpeter Nils-Petter Molvaer, Aytaç Dogan on the zither-like kanun, Eivind Aarset handling electric guitar parts and electronics, pianist Kristjan Randalu, double bassist Phil Donkin and drummer Chander Sardjoe.
Youssef envisions the entirety of Birds Requiem
as a score for a film that exists only in his creative mind. "I imagine
the movie being about two entities," he says, "myself and my permanent
search for a wandering soul. It symbolizes the idea of the disappearance
of the body and the wandering of the soul. This idea is also reflected
in the image of the birds depicted in the songs and in the album's
pictures."
For Youssef, Birds Requiem
marks the continuation of a journey into the possibilities of the oud
that began during his childhood in Tunisia, where he was born in 1967.
He discovered jazz as a youth and knew as he explored his instrument and
composition that his lot in life would be the fusion of Eastern and
Western styles into something wholly exhilarating and new. He relocated
to Europe in the '90s and his reputation as an artist who blurred the
lines between world music, jazz, classical and even contemporary genres
such as funk grew exponentially with each new release. Albums such as
2002's Electric Sufi and 2006's Divine Shadows
redefined the role of the oud in modern music, and Youssef's
compositions, which also often featured his impassioned vocals, have
been hailed as cutting-edge. He has received many honors for his work
including a nomination for the BBC Music Awards For World Music in 2006.
"I've always been in a permanent search for new sonorities," he says.
"Even at the age of 6, I was curious. I discovered the echo of my voice
and its resonances. Later, I experienced the undulations and the
resonances of sounds that we find in Electric Sufi."
Birds Requiem is a
culmination of all that he's accomplished previously, taking Dhafer
Youssef's music to the next level. But he prefers not to overanalyze it
all. "I sincerely think it is hard to succeed in describing the mood in
this album or the others," he says. "I am convinced that its essence can
only be felt while listening. It solicits the participation of the
listener and the audience. Each one can feel it according to his own
background or experience. Birds Requiem continues my search."
Dhafer Youssef · Birds Requiem
OKeh · Release Date: January 21, 2014
For more information on Dhafer Youssef, please visit:
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