Al-Andalus Ensemble

Last updated

Al-Andalus Ensemble is a husband and wife musical duo that performs contemporary Andalusian music. The ensemble features Tarik Banzi playing oud, ney and darbuka, and Julia Banzi on flamenco guitar. [1]

Contents

Tarik Banzi was born in Morocco, and Julia, one of the few well-known female flamenco guitarists, is a native of Denver. [1]

Style

The Al-Andalus Ensemble play both traditional Andalusian music and contemporary works, which draw much of their inspiration from the music of Arabo-Andalusian, Spanish Flamenco, Medieval Spanish, Ladino (Jewish-Spanish) melodies, North African and Arabic rhythms, as well as jazz, Classical, South Indian and Western classical music., [1] with vocals in Spanish, Arabic, Ladino and English [2] to create the musical style which has been labeled "contemporary Andalusian." [3] [4]

They seek to sustain and continue the Andalusian classical music traditions of Tarik's native Morocco and his ancestors' home in Moorish Andalusia. Ted Gioia, author of The History of Jazz, likened Al-Andalus Ensemble's creation of the "contemporary Andalusian" genre to Astor Piazzolla's creation of Nuevo Tango style, essentially saying that both these sets of musicians had revitalized traditional musical styles that were growing stagnant by embracing multicultural influences that allowed them to transform and modernize their traditional music. [5]

Many of the instruments they use in their performance are traditional North African and Middle Eastern instruments: the oud, kamanja, darbuka, tar and rebab, as well as the flamenco cajón, guitar, and palmas and Western instruments such as the flute, saxophone, drum set and piano. Their work is sometimes accompanied by dance performances, including dancers and other world-music specialists. [1]

Robert McBride, music director for Oregon Public Broadcasting, described their music as "something timeless, wonderful and very stimulating." [1]

Tarik Banzi, descended from Moorish Andalusians who fled Spain during the Spanish Reconquest, is a visual artist as well as a musician and composer. He holds a doctorate in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain and his paintings have been exhibited internationally. [6] He was also an active member of the Madrid flamenco music scene since the late 1970s until the early 1980s, including membership in the jazz-flamenco fusion band Guadalquivir. He performed and recorded with flamenco master musicians such as Paco de Lucia, Manolo Sanlucar, Enrique Morente and Jorge Pardo and it has been claimed that Tarik introduced the use of the darbuka and Udu to flamenco music. [7] Two of his students, Fain Duenas and Vicente Molina, went on to form the Grammy-nominated world music group Radio Tarifa.

Julia Banzi holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and specializes in flamenco and women's performance of Andalusian music. She lived in Spain for many years and studied flamenco with Isidro Munoz, Manolo Sanlucar, David Serva and Juan Maya "Marote." She is one of a very few female flamenco guitarists worldwide. Her PhD dissertation from the University of California at Santa Barbara discusses modern changes in flamenco and is titled "Flamenco Guitar Innovation and the Circumscription of Tradition" (2007). Her Master thesis "“Women’s Andalusian Ensembles of Tetuan, Morocco" (2002) is the result of over 15 years of research into women's ensembles in North Africa (Morocco). She contributed two chapters on Moroccan and Spanish food and women's performance to the multi-authored book The Ethnomusicologists' Cookbook: Complete Meals from Around the World (Routledge 2006). She teaches guitar at Reed College and Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

The ensemble's membership of musicians and dancers shifts with its performance needs, and past and current members have include Grammy Award-winning violinist and founder of Shadowfax Charlie Bisharat, Boujemaa Razgui, whose flutes were destroyed by US Customs, Billy Oskay Nightnoise, Jorge Pardo, Pink Martini Gavin Bondy and Martín Zarzar, Anthony Jones, Joe Heinemann, Ranjani Krishnan and Margarita Bruce. [8] [9] and Pink Martini members Martín Zarzar and Gavin Bondy as well as Moroccan musician Noureddine Chekara, Spanish singer Virtudes Sanchez, American singer Emily Miles, [8] [9] [10] Basque flamenco dancer Laura Dubroca [8] [9] [10] and Spanish flamenco dancer Maria Jose Franco.

Historical influences

The Al-Andalus Ensemble takes its name and much of its inspiration from Al-Andalus, Spain. Historically, "Al-Andalus" refers to Moorish Iberia, or parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims between 711 and 1492. During these eight centuries, Andalusian Spain witnessed cultural cooperation and innovation between Africa, the East and the West as well as between Muslims, Jews and Christians. The Al-Andalus Ensemble follows the model of Al-Andalus in composition and performance, drawing on many cultures and traditions to present the suggestion of intercultural peace and artistic innovation. [11]

Educational programs

The ensemble won the University of California, Santa Barbara-based California ArtsBridge award for their K-12 educational program "Journey from Baghdad to Cordoba". The "Baghdad.." program is now part of the Young Audiences association to bring the arts into schools throughout North America.

Discography

The Al-Andalus Ensemble's work can be heard on their recordings:

Tarik Banzi also recorded one album with Joe Heinemann:

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flamenco</span> Genre of Spanish music and dance

Flamenco, in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, but also having a historical presence in Extremadura and Murcia. In a wider sense, it is a portmanteau term used to refer to a variety of both contemporary and traditional musical styles typical of southern Spain. Flamenco is closely associated to the gitanos of the Romani ethnicity who have contributed significantly to its origination and professionalization. However, its style is uniquely Andalusian and flamenco artists have historically included Spaniards of both gitano and non-gitano heritage.

Music of Spain Music and musical traditions of Spain

In Spain, music has a long history. It has played an important role in the development of Western music, and has greatly influenced Latin American music. Spanish music is often associated with traditional styles such as flamenco and classical guitar. While these forms of music are common, there are many different traditional musical and dance styles across the regions. For example, music from the north-west regions is heavily reliant on bagpipes, the jota is widespread in the centre and north of the country, and flamenco originated in the south. Spanish music played a notable part in the early developments of western classical music, from the 15th through the early 17th century. The breadth of musical innovation can be seen in composers like Tomás Luis de Victoria, styles like the zarzuela of Spanish opera, the ballet of Manuel de Falla, and the classical guitar music of Francisco Tárrega. Nowadays commercial pop music dominates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arabic music</span> Music of the Arab World

Arabic music or Arab music is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also many linguistic dialects, with each country and region having their own traditional music.

The Music of Andalusia encompasses a range of traditional and modern musical genres which originate in the territory of Andalusia in southern Spain. The most famous are copla and flamenco, the latter being sometimes used as a portmanteau term for various regional musical traditions within Andalusia. Today, Andalusia has a rich and thriving musical scene, which draws from its own musical traditions as well as from external influences such as salsa, jazz or pop music.

New flamenco or flamenco fusion is a musical genre that was born in Spain, starting in the 1980s. It combines flamenco guitar virtuosity and traditional flamenco music with musical fusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andalusi classical music</span> Music genre

Andalusi classical music, also called Andalusi music or Arab-Andalusian music is a genre of music originally developed in al-Andalus by the Muslim population of the region and the Moors. It then spread and influenced many different styles across the Maghreb after the Expulsion of the Moriscos. It originated in the music of Al-Andalus between the 9th and 15th centuries. Some of its poems derive from famous authors such as Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, Ibn Khafaja, Al-Shushtari, and Ibn al-Khatib.

Radio Tarifa was a Spanish World music ensemble, combining Flamenco, Arab-Andalusian music, Arabic music, Moorish music and other musical influences of the Mediterranean, the Middle Ages and the Caribbean. The name of the ensemble comes from an imaginary radio station in Tarifa, a small town in the Spanish province of Cadiz, Andalusia, the closest part of Spain to Morocco. Instead of simply fusing musical styles as they are currently known, Radio Tarifa went back in time to the common past of those styles, before the final conquest of Granada in 1492, when the Moors and Jews were exiled from Spain. This invented style sheds light upon the real styles of Spain, most notably flamenco, although the band rejected all musical purism, preferring to mix arrangements of traditional compositions with their own melodies and combining instruments from Ancient Egypt, classical Greek and Roman times with modern saxophones and electric bass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasmin Levy</span> Musical artist

Yasmin Levy is an Israeli singer-songwriter of Judeo-Spanish music.

Abdessadeq Cheqara Moroccan musicians

Abdessadeq Cheqara was a Moroccan singer of traditional Andalusian classical music and Moroccan folk music. Known as the grand master of al-Ala , he was also a violin and oud virtuoso.

Françoise Atlan French musical artist

Françoise Atlan is a French singer and ethnomusicologist, born in a Sephardic Jewish family in Narbonne, France on 27 July 1964. Her father was a lawyer and native of Béjaïa, Algeria, and her mother was a pianist and a lyrical singer.

Contradanza (band) Spanish folk/acoustic music band

Contradanza is a folk and acoustic music band formed in 1998 in Seville, playing traditional music as well as original compositions in the style.

Omar Bashir (musician) Iraqi-Hungarian musician

Omar Bashir is an Iraqi-Hungarian musician. His father, Munir Bashir, was considered to be the supreme master of the Arab maqamat scale system.

Eduardo Paniagua is a Spanish architect and musician, specializing in medieval Spanish music.

Ricardo Garcia is a Spanish guitarist, leader of the group Flamenco Flow, who is known for his interpretations of Flamenco blended with other musical forms.

Omar Metioui is a Moroccan classical musician.

The Ibn Báya Ensemble is a Spanish-Moroccan early music ensemble formed in 1994.

The Brothers of the Baladi is a World music band based in Portland, Oregon, USA, that plays both traditional Middle Eastern music, and also combines traditional Middle Eastern and western sounds and instruments for a unique Worldbeat sound. Band leader/percussionist/vocalist Michael Beach provides lyrics in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, French, Spanish, Kurdish, Armenian and English, and the band features many traditional Middle Eastern instruments including oud, saz, mizmar, midjwiz, arghool, doumbek, riq, def, tar, bendir and davul.

Amir John Haddad Musical artist

Amir John Haddad is a German-Spanish flamenco guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, based in Spain since 1997. He was the official oud, bouzouki and guitar player for Radio Tarifa for almost ten years and in that role received a nomination for Best Folk Album at the Latin Grammy Awards of 2004.

Al-Firdaus Ensemble Sufi musical group

Al Firdaus Ensemble is a Sufi musical group based in Granada, Spain. Founded in 2012 by the English singer Ali Keeler, the ensemble consists of musicians from England, Spain, Morocco and Venezuela.

Temporal is the second album by the Spanish band Radio Tarifa, released internationally in 1997. The band supported the album with a North American tour.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cultural Modulations" "Aramco World", Vol. 45, No. 6, November/December 1994.
  2. ↑ Al Andalus: Booking. Andalus.com. Retrieved on 20 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Al Andalus Ensemble offers echoes of Iraq. OregonLive.com. Retrieved on 20 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Tarik & Julia Banzi: Al Andalus Ensemble | Alchemy. CD Baby. Retrieved on 20 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Tarik & Julia Banzi: Al Andalus Ensemble. CD Baby. Retrieved on 20 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Arabo-Andalusian Artist, Tarik Banzi. Ziriab.com. Retrieved on 20 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Banzi, Tarik – Jazz.com | Jazz Music – Jazz Artists – Jazz News". Archived from the original on 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  8. 1 2 3 Portland ensemble Al-Andalus makes ancient music new. OregonLive.com. Retrieved on 20 October 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 Review: Al-Andalus weaves oud, guitar, violin, voice, dance into captivating tapestry. OregonLive.com (11 April 2010). Retrieved on 20 October 2011.
  10. 1 2 Al Andalus : Biography. Andalus.com. Retrieved on 20 October 2011.
  11. ↑ Al Andalus : About Us. Andalus.com. Retrieved on 20 October 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.