Nahnou houm

"The 2009 self-titled debut from pianist/composer Jon Balke's Siwan ensemble was universally acclaimed as his modern composition and improvising quintet met Moroccan singer Amina Alaoui and Bjarte Eike's Barokksolistene, a Baroque group that weds the raw rhythms of Scandinavian folk to High Baroque. The album offered composed and improvised music centered on Gharnati music, inspired by the Al-Andalus era (730-1492). That inspiration is taken further afield on Nahnou Houm (English translation: "we are them"). Ms. Alaoui has been replaced by Algerian vocalist and oudist Mona Boutchebak, whose background lies in Arab-Andalusian music ... Nahnou Houm is a woven quilt of history, mystery, and endless curiosity that, while asking "what if?," simultaneously presents an argument that uses historical precedent as a framer of present reality. As a modern group, Balke's Siwan reveals just how much remains to be discovered in art at the intersection of histories, cultures, and religions".

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"I [Jon Balkes] Siwan-ensemble skaber han en nytænkende syntese mellem smidige arabisk-spanske, tyrkiske og persiske melodier, kammermusikalsk barok og ny nordisk musik ... Den politiske og kulturelle virkelighed [er] ofte forgiftet af splittelse og konflikter, som kunstnere ingen indflydelse har på. Derfor er Balkes 14 m/k store ensemble også en slags demonstration, et multikulturelt mikrokosmos ... Det lykkes især at finde et originalt fællesudtryk i stykker som 'Del Rey', titelnummeret 'Nahnou Koum' og 'Aun Bebiendo'. Her vokser inderlig strygerbarok, svungne orientalske sanglinjer og raslende slagtøj sammen på forunderlig vis".

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