Je hebt geen items in je winkelwagen.
Jabir
The person behind Jabir is Francisco Javier Sánchez González (Madrid, 1943). This is his solo project and certainly a rare breed among the different artists on Discos Esplendor Geométrico. Throughout the years, his recordings have become highly sought-after items among record collectors and djs, particularly for a younger generation fascinated by the convergence between synthetic digital sounds and traditionally reminiscent atmospheres, very much in line with the concept of Fourth World put forward by Jon Hassell. Hence, Vuelos por las altura de Alhambra, with the exception of Jorge Reyes’ Niérika, is a rara avis within Discos Esplendor Geométrico’s catalogue.
Despite having received classical musical training, studying piano and violin in Madrid’s conservatory, like many other young musicians from his generation, he experienced an epiphany while listening to John Coltrane’s My favourite things in the early 1960’s. Such a landmark discovery coincided with his bohemian years, leading him to perform in bands following the steps of Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. This approach towards modal music, would in turn spark his interest for Arabic music and its maqams, which encompass a whole set of melodic modes used in classical Arabic music along the Middle East and Northern Africa.
In fact, Jabir was responsible for the creation of Jazz Forum, a university association forerunner on the promotion and the diffusion of jazz in Madrid during the 1970’s, a time when Spain was still awaiting the end of Franco's dictatorship. A regime which, towards the end of the previous decade would sentence him to prison accused of spreading revolutionary propaganda. During his stay as a political prisoner in Carabanchel’s prison, he decided to turn towards musical teaching, for, as he likes to remember: “music is my mistress, and it is through its different proportions and ways of behaving, that it teaches lessons for all dimensions of life”.
Mysticism and the influence of Adnan Sarhan – a spiritual master close to the practice of Sufism – would play a key role in his development and transition from jazz towards Arabic music at the end of the 1970’s, leading him to learn from his percussion, dance and breathing techniques, all of them crucial for meditation. The impact of such teachings along with a devoted listening to several cassettes which ranged from Sufi samas ceremonies to traditional songs interpreted by key figures like Om Kalthoum or Fairuz, would impulse him to set up several groups by recruiting Arab expatriate musicians in Madrid, including amongst them Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Tarik al-Banzi. Be it on the streets or at night clubs, the early 1980’s saw Jabir leading pioneering ephemeral bands like Al-Fatihah, Amal and Husain Slaui.
Such projects may be considered to go well beyond a mere exotic approach to the Middle East, as Jabir’s research would eventually result in a communion between technology and tradition, as evidenced through his seminal album. Furthermore, his humanist vocation would lead him to vindicate a legacy culturally inherent to the Spanish identity, which no matter how self-evident it might seem, has been systematically denied by those who have aimed to create an exclusively European genealogy, and therefore deny a part of Spain’s history, obliterating the contributions and technological breakthroughs of almost eight centuries of Arab presence in the Iberian Peninsula. In this album, the Alhambra appears as a locus with an ambivalent meaning: symbolic for both the artistic Hispanic-Muslim splendour and the decline brought by the Catholic Reconquista.
Another determining factor with regards to the origin of his album is Jabir’s approach towards classical Arabic and Turkish music, as well as Persian later on, in parallel to his research as a member of CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas ). This was only reinforced through his visits to Iraq, and in particular, to Turkey, a country he would visit recurrently for over two decades, resulting in a decisive influence in terms of the dose of mysticism contained within his pieces. In particular his visits to the region of Konya, well-known for its whirling dervishes (mevlevis), where he would document several samas, and got to meet personalities like Kâni Karaca, the renowned blind singer and hafiz (Qur’an reciter), from whom he would learn valuable lessons. An archive containing all of those materials compiled over the years awaits to be revisited along with a great deal of texts focused on the teachings and dissemination of these sorts of music, like his book La música culta árabe-oriental (1985).
Despite having received classical musical training, studying piano and violin in Madrid’s conservatory, like many other young musicians from his generation, he experienced an epiphany while listening to John Coltrane’s My favourite things in the early 1960’s. Such a landmark discovery coincided with his bohemian years, leading him to perform in bands following the steps of Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. This approach towards modal music, would in turn spark his interest for Arabic music and its maqams, which encompass a whole set of melodic modes used in classical Arabic music along the Middle East and Northern Africa.
In fact, Jabir was responsible for the creation of Jazz Forum, a university association forerunner on the promotion and the diffusion of jazz in Madrid during the 1970’s, a time when Spain was still awaiting the end of Franco's dictatorship. A regime which, towards the end of the previous decade would sentence him to prison accused of spreading revolutionary propaganda. During his stay as a political prisoner in Carabanchel’s prison, he decided to turn towards musical teaching, for, as he likes to remember: “music is my mistress, and it is through its different proportions and ways of behaving, that it teaches lessons for all dimensions of life”.
Mysticism and the influence of Adnan Sarhan – a spiritual master close to the practice of Sufism – would play a key role in his development and transition from jazz towards Arabic music at the end of the 1970’s, leading him to learn from his percussion, dance and breathing techniques, all of them crucial for meditation. The impact of such teachings along with a devoted listening to several cassettes which ranged from Sufi samas ceremonies to traditional songs interpreted by key figures like Om Kalthoum or Fairuz, would impulse him to set up several groups by recruiting Arab expatriate musicians in Madrid, including amongst them Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Tarik al-Banzi. Be it on the streets or at night clubs, the early 1980’s saw Jabir leading pioneering ephemeral bands like Al-Fatihah, Amal and Husain Slaui.
Such projects may be considered to go well beyond a mere exotic approach to the Middle East, as Jabir’s research would eventually result in a communion between technology and tradition, as evidenced through his seminal album. Furthermore, his humanist vocation would lead him to vindicate a legacy culturally inherent to the Spanish identity, which no matter how self-evident it might seem, has been systematically denied by those who have aimed to create an exclusively European genealogy, and therefore deny a part of Spain’s history, obliterating the contributions and technological breakthroughs of almost eight centuries of Arab presence in the Iberian Peninsula. In this album, the Alhambra appears as a locus with an ambivalent meaning: symbolic for both the artistic Hispanic-Muslim splendour and the decline brought by the Catholic Reconquista.
Another determining factor with regards to the origin of his album is Jabir’s approach towards classical Arabic and Turkish music, as well as Persian later on, in parallel to his research as a member of CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas ). This was only reinforced through his visits to Iraq, and in particular, to Turkey, a country he would visit recurrently for over two decades, resulting in a decisive influence in terms of the dose of mysticism contained within his pieces. In particular his visits to the region of Konya, well-known for its whirling dervishes (mevlevis), where he would document several samas, and got to meet personalities like Kâni Karaca, the renowned blind singer and hafiz (Qur’an reciter), from whom he would learn valuable lessons. An archive containing all of those materials compiled over the years awaits to be revisited along with a great deal of texts focused on the teachings and dissemination of these sorts of music, like his book La música culta árabe-oriental (1985).
Sorteer op:
Toon:
Totaal 1 Item
Informatie
