Danûk
Homage to forgotten Kurdish songs – Festival »Kurdistan« / World Classical Music
Old music in new guise
They fled the war in Syria, busked on the streets of Istanbul, and have now recorded their first album. Danûk are a five-strong band led by singer Ferhad Feyssal, who breathe new life into traditional Kurdish songs on the album »Morîk« (Pearl). A share of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to help the victims of the recent devastating earthquake in Syria.
Between 1902 and 1912, Austrian and German researchers used a phonograph to record Kurdish shepherd and wedding songs in what was then Mesopotamia, and a Syrian priest singing in Jerusalem, and stored the cylinders in archives in Vienna and Berlin. As they rearranged these songs with the musician and producer Michael League (bandleader of Snarky Puppy), the Kurdish quintet sought to rediscover their Syrian homeland in a spirit of appreciation and affection, and to cross boundaries in both the musical and political sense. The recordings for »Morîk« are structured around sacred, solemn and often polyphonic singing, the poignant sounds of the saz and electric guitars, and incisive rhythmical accentuations.
Performers
Danûk
Ferhad Feyssal vocals
Ronas Sheikhmous bilûr, mey, zurna
Hozan Peyal bouzouki, saz
Yazan Ibrahim guitar
Kimia Bani percussion
Programme
»Morîk«
A homage to long-forgotten Kurdish songs
Subscription
World Classical Music
Festival
Kurdistan