- Cloud Valley Music website -
- Andrew Cronshaw website -
- Andrew Cronshaw MySpace -

- Back to Reviews Introduction page -

Written in fRoots issue 221, 2001

ARDAVAN KAMKAR
Over The Wind
Traditional Crossroads 80702-4300-2 (2001)

The santur played by Kurdish Iranian Ardavan Kamkar, youngest member of the Kamkars Ensemble but here playing entirely solo, is of the usual Persian pattern, a small dulcimer with 9 groups of 4 steel strings divided by bridges, and a further 9 groups of brass strings that pass over the right-hand bridges, producing a total 27 notes.
      Normally they would be tuned to a particular mode, but Kamkar uses his own tunings that access a greater chromaticism, allowing him to draw on several modes within one tuning. He explores the consequent possibilities to the full, in inventive compositions that float easily across the divide between the improvisatory life and fluency of Middle Eastern classical and folk musics and the scales and harmony of western music. Not only is his technique remarkable, involving equal weight to both hands rather than the right-hand dominance of many players, and feature cunning touches such as pitch bending, but he draws an unusually rich tone and spot-on intonation from an instrument that isn’t one of the easiest dulcimers to keep in tune.
      The long opener is an elegant contrapuntal piece largely in an unexpectedly western-sounding minor key that progressively adds in fast Middle-Eastern ripples and turns, returns to a reflective development of the theme over arpeggiated chording, moves to almost pianistic style before heading into another shimmering, trilling workout followed by a final re-statement of the theme. The other five tracks, between five and twelve or so minutes long, are similarly full of turns in pace and texture and integration of European-sounding and Middle Eastern approaches.
      It’s an album to cause any player of a hammered dulcimer type instrument to ponder and practise.


© 2001 Andrew Cronshaw
 

You're welcome to quote from reviews on this site, but please credit the writer and fRoots.

Links:
fRoots - The feature and review-packed UK-based monthly world roots music magazine in which these reviews were published, and by whose permission they're reproduced here.

It's not practical to give, and keep up to date, current contact details and sales sources for all the artists and labels in these reviews, but try Googling for them, and where possible buy direct from the artists.
CDRoots.com in the USA, run by Cliff Furnald, is a reliable and independent online retail source, with reviews, of many of the CDs in these reviews; it's connected to his excellent online magazine Rootsworld.com 

For more reviews click on the regions below

NORDIC        BALTIC        IBERIA (& islands)   

CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE, & CAUCASUS   

OTHER EUROPEAN        AMERICAS        OTHER, AND WORLD IN GENERAL

- Back to Reviews Introduction page -