Sufi Music From Turkey [coll] – [ARC Music]

Have you ever seen a whirling dervish? Their dances precipitate a trance-like feeling in both the dancer and the observer. Personally I might get quite sick if I were to spin like that. This is their soundtrack so to speak. Lilting strings pull you up lightly by your shoulders and relieve the burden for a short while. This great collection includes outstanding liner notes educating the reader on the basis for dervish’s dance and the modal influences of the sufi music. Instruments of Sufi music include the Kanun (psaltery), Kud’m (kettle-style drums), Bendir (single-headed hand-held drum), Ud (small lute), Tanbur (long-necked lute), Kemen’e (short-necked fiddle), and Halile (turkish cymbals). Many of the tracks on this collection are used to highlight the different instruments using improvised pieces maintaining strict modal adherence. An excellent introduction to Sufi music from Turkey. — Numa