KARAKUM (Black Desert) MIDDLE ASIA PROJECT
Enver Izmailov - git
Leniye - vocal
Sabir Rizaev - clarinet
Gasan Mamedov - violin
Kurban Kurbanov - accordion
Khakberty Allamuradov - percussion
Rustem Bari - percussion
Lenara Osmanova - dance
Weddings are still the biggest family events - on the Balkan as well as in Middle Asia. Music plays the central role at such festivities. The longer the band can play the more remarkable the wedding is. The group Ashkhabad is one of the best groups in this field and has played music for years. The group had become famous with a record which Peter Gabriel released under his label Realworld.
Beside the virtuous play of Gasan Mamedov on his guitar his guest – the guitar virtuous Enver Izmailov – will be playing. Surely a feast for your eyes and ears!
Ashkhabad's debut album, "City Of Love", released in 1993, united Turkmenistan musicians including accordion player Kurban Kurbanov and vocalist Atabai Tsharykuliev, Khekberdy Allamuradov (serp, dep and nagara), Sabir Rizaer (clarinet, percussion, soprano sax, serp and nagara), Gassan Mamedov (violin) and Bernd von Ostrowski (bass, acoustic bass) and London-based musicians including David DeFries (fluegelhorn), Caroline LaVello (cello), Jacelyn Pook (viola) and Sonia Slang (violin). Liner notes for the album were written by Peter Gabriel.
The musical traditions of Turkmenistan are combined with non-eastern music influences by Ashkhabad. With its mixture of such Middle Eastern instruments as serp, nagara, taragat and dutar and western classical instruments including violin, viola and cello, the group creates a sound that recalls the cinematic music of Egypt and India.
Enver Izmailov is a remarkable guitarist. He developed a tapping technique long before ever hearing about Stanley Jordan. His playing encompasses Oriental and Balkan folk music, rock, Indian music etc. Using western classical and the improvisation of jazz, he can also make his guitar sound like a tabla or saz and is not afraid of leaving space. He uses elements from folk music of Uzbekistan and the Crimean Tatars as well as absorbes the influences of Oriental, Indian and Balkans music, while playing difficult rhythms: 7/8, 5/8, 9/8, 11/16, 13/16.
"By two handed hammering on he is making the guitar a new instrument which is in no way inferior to the polyhone possibilities of the cembalo. Izmailov's tours through baroque quotations, Slavian folklore and sound excesses are technically and artistically pure magic"
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