With the rise of nationalism, the music of the Eastern Mediterranean was categorized according to political borders, ethnicity, the languages of the singers. But despite many local variations, the continuities in a region marked by the common heritage of Hellenism, Byzantium and Islam are important.
In recent years, many recording artists have explored the regional crosscurrents in contemporary settings. Twenty years ago, a female Yemeni Jewish singer, Ofra Hazra, brought the music of her community onto the dance floor. Now, another woman of that heritage has stepped out. On Song of Songs (released by Electrofone Records), Inbar Bakal stirs acoustic and electronic instrumentation into eddying waves of sound. Singing with quietly intense yearning, Bakal intones chilling melodies over beats as contemporary as a dance club and ancient as a wedding dance in the open air. Many songs have roots in the old Jewish community of Yemen, but, having grown up in Israel and living now in LA, her music has absorbed kindred influences from the entire Eastern Mediterranean.
Bakal's grandfather was a Kabbalist and a mystic sense clings to her music. Likewise, the recordings of Turkish bamboo flutist and multi-instrumentalist Omar Faruk Tekbilek are marked by his immersion in Sufi devotions. Rare Elements (on 5 Points Records) contains 10 tracks of Tekbilek's folkloric music, each one rearranged by a different club music mix master. Tekbilek remains the animating spirit of these sweaty postmodern workouts, linking soul and body in the ecstasy of dance.
The cultural influences that crisscrossed the Eastern Mediterranean came ashore on the Adriatic coast and penetrated inland into the mountains of the former Yugoslavia. Brass bands became embedded in the traditions of Serbia and Bosnia, and the modern updates often spin the music in the direction of New Orleans funk, with which it has an affinity. Goran Bregovic and his Wedding and Funeral Band have released an aptly titled album in that line, Alkohol (on Kamarad Records). The band sounds a little drunk with wild abandon, conjuring up the wailing tonalities of the East over a slipping, irresistible beat. Goran Bregovic performs June 14 at Chicago's Ravinia Festival.
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