The eastern Mediterranean has never known an age when the lambs lay down for long with the lions. But if there never was a golden age, there were silver ones when cities were cosmopolitan, ethnic-religious groups enjoyed friendly relations and national boundaries weren’t drawn in concrete. Vocalist Çiğdem Aslan harkens back to such times. Singing in Greek and Turkish and recording in Athens with an international cast, Aslan performs songs traditional to the region as well as more recent compositions in comparable styles. Tinkling cimbalom, sadly wailing violin, the steady hand-beat of the dumbeg and the twang of Levantine string instruments set the stage for Aslan’s soulful vocals. Like the bird of its title, A Thousand Cranes covers many lands, soaring across borders as if they didn’t exist.
