Karim Sulayman, tenor ; Sean Shibe, guitar. Recorded 2022 August 8-11, St. Martin's Church, East Woodhay, Newbury, England. Title from disc label. Booklet with lyrics in English, Italian and Arabic with translations in English and program notes in English (25 pages : portraits) inserted in container.
Contents:
Time stands still / John Dowland (5:30) -- Sufi dance / Johnathan Harvey (2:18) -- Dalla porta d'oriente / Giulio Caccini (3:24) -- Si dolce è'l tormento (4:27) ; La mia turca (2:16) / Claudio Monteverdi -- La prima vez : traditional Sephardic (3;58) -- Lamma bada yatathanna : Arab-Andalusian muwashshah (2:24) -- El helwa di / Sayed Darwish (3:33) -- Li Beirut / Fairuz, after Joaquín Rodrigo (4:08) -- A butterfly in New York / Layale Chaker (4:43) -- In the woods. Wainscot Pond / Toru Takemitsu (3:29) -- Songs from the Chinese / Benjamin Britten (11:04).
Summary:
Tenor Karim Sulayman and guitarist Sean Shibe present a conceptual album with music ranging from Dowland, Monteverdi, Britten, Rodrigo, Takemitsu, Harvey, and Chaker to traditional songs from the Middle East, scrutinizing the close cultural and musical ties between East and West. This musical exploration ties in with the artists' personal experience of a dynamic, in-between identity, as they grew up in the West having ethnic roots in the East (Lebanon and Japan respectively). This explores the wood of the guitar and its relatives, as well as the splintering of history known as diaspora. Karim Sulayman has garnered international attention as a sophisticated and versatile artist and won a Grammy Award for Classical Solo Vocal in 2019. Multi-award-winning guitarist Sean Shibe brings a fresh and innovative approach to the traditional classical guitar, while also exploring contemporary music and repertoire for electric guitar.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.