New Sounds

Mercan Dede (www.afropop.org/Banning Eyre)

World Trance Music

Show #2424

Monday, July 10, 2006

It’s an hour of world dance music and ecstatic trance on this edition of New Sounds. Hear folktronic sacred DJ music from the Algerian native Cheb I Sabbah, off of his most recent release, “La Kahena.” This master mixer brings together Indian, Arabian and African musical traditions in an intoxicating frenzy of irrestible beats with contributions on the CD from Bill Laswell, Karsh Kale, and many Moroccan musicians. There’s also music by Mercan Dede, who combines modern settings with Sufi-inspired material to set up an hypnotic otherworldly space. From his latest, “Su,” listen to a piece called “Ab-I Verd” (which means rose water), and is dedicated to the famous Turkish singer Kani Karaca. Also, there’s music from Bachir Attar, the leader of the Master Musicians of Jajouka, an ancient family originating from the Moroccan village of Jajouka, whose ritual trance-inducing melodies can help achieve transcendence in music. Plus, hear exerpts from the ecstatic project by Shahram Shiva, “Lovedrunk,” - it's the poetry of Rumi, set to music for whirling.

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