Today's DailyOM Offerings...
April 24, 2012
Astrakan Café
Anouar Brahem Trio
2000
Just try not to be drawn in by Astrakan Café, the sixth album by Tunisian oud player Anouar Brahem. In simplest terms, it’s a record of seductive Arabic melodies and liquid improvisation from Brahem and his trio, which also includes Turkish clarinetist Barbaros Erköse and master hand percussionist Lassad Honsi. The musical language of Brahem and his trio brings together folk and classical styles from across the Islamic world and beyond, from North Africa to India, the Middle East and Turkey to Eastern Europe; the improvisatory spirit of jazz isn’t far behind. But more important than defining this album is experiencing its emotional power. Astrakan Café is a deeply personal record, filled with introspection and memory and joy and sorrow, and it gets there without the benefit of a single word.
On opening track “Aube Rouge à Grozny," Honsi pounds out a spare beat on his frame drum, the bendir, as Erköse’s clarinet flickers and moans over an exotic scale. It’s simplicity itself, and yet these two musicians speak volumes. There’s an ululating mourner in that keening clarinet, a nigh religious austerity in that drumbeat. Even the trio’s more virtuosic passages are rooted in affect, not histrionics. There’s an air of eerie familiarity to “Halfaouine,” thrummed rhythmically by Brahem as if his oud were a gypsy wagon, ambling slowly from one encampment to the next. The piece was the theme music for a Tunisian film of the same name. Much of Astrakan Café works cinematically, expanding beyond notes and rhythms into visions of panoramic deserts and bustling medinas.
The gorgeous production on Astrakan Café shrouds the Anouar Brahem Trio in a gossamer coat of reverb, which only adds to the intimacy of the album. Every string pluck, clarinet tone, and stroke of the darbouka resonates into the album’s sonic ether, as if the ensemble was playing in the middle of an empty mosque with no audience but themselves. You can hear Erköse’s breathing and occasionally hear Brahem singing softly, wordlessly to himself. Astrakan Café has ecstatic moments too, like the flamenco-infused oud shredding on “Parfum de Gitane,” or the caterwauling clarinet heard on “Hijaz Pechref.” But for the most part, the trio expresses itself with a quiet profundity that radiates long after Brahem’s oud strings stop quivering.
April 24, 2012
Gifts of Intimacy
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
You may be surprised by your own generosity today as you allow your loved ones unprecedented access to your resources. You may be in an unselfish and giving mood, and thus apt to seek out opportunities to do whatever is in your power to improve the lives of the people you care about. Should one of your loved ones approach you and request your time, energy, or skills, you will likely joyfully accept the chance to be there for them. Your generosity can strengthen the connection you share with the people you care about and help you relate more intimately with casual friends and acquaintances. The selflessness you exhibit today by giving without asking anything in return can impress your loved ones and inspire them to similar generosity.
Because every healthy relationship is rooted in interdependence, approaching the process of giving in an unselfish way can reinforce the bonds you share with your loved ones. The gifts you give to your friends and family-whether literal of figurative-demonstrate your willingness to become a partial steward of their well-being. When your purely altruistic generosity is part of a larger, shared network of give and take, your giving spirit will have a place where it can thrive. Even during those periods in which self-sacrifice is called for and the dynamic in your relationships has been thrown off-kilter, you’ll feel the intimacy you share with your loved ones increase each time you give. As you give selflessly of yourself and your resources today, your relationships will flourish.
April 24, 2012
The Power of Union
Entering into Partnership
In partnership and relationship we harness the power of union.
The purpose of partnership is to create something greater than we can create alone. Not because of any deficiency or incompleteness in us, but because each of us is unique, with our own talents and abilities, and in partnership we increase the efforts and talents available for creating something meaningful together. All partnerships, whether romantic, creative, or professionally-based, can be powerful relationships for personal growth. In partnership we harness the power of union.
It is important to choose our partnerships consciously. Sometimes forged quickly during times of need, we may find ourselves rushing into unions with perhaps not the clearest intentions. Partnerships created from those starting point might serve our immediate needs, but the repercussions of a union so quickly fostered without much thought can be difficult to recover from. Granted, there is something to learn from every relationship, but looking to another to fix or complete us can turn a partnership into a dependent bond. If we can stay clear about what we want and what we need in a partnership, while staying grounded and remembering that we are our own source of happiness and fulfillment, we can create partnerships that support and enhance the best of who we are.
Everyone in our lives is a mirror reflecting back the parts we love and dislike about ourselves. If we have the courage to recognize our reflections in each other, we can grow through our partnerships. A partnership that offers both acceptance of who we are and an opportunity for personal transformation can be fertile ground for growing a healthy, lasting union. When we find this kind of partnership, we are more likely to want to keep it, invest in it, and nurture it.
Life is a collaborative effort. Much of what we do can be enhanced through partnership. Together we are stronger because our personal power is multiplied by two. Through partnership we experience the joys of working, living, and loving together.
Astrakan Café
Anouar Brahem Trio
2000
Just try not to be drawn in by Astrakan Café, the sixth album by Tunisian oud player Anouar Brahem. In simplest terms, it’s a record of seductive Arabic melodies and liquid improvisation from Brahem and his trio, which also includes Turkish clarinetist Barbaros Erköse and master hand percussionist Lassad Honsi. The musical language of Brahem and his trio brings together folk and classical styles from across the Islamic world and beyond, from North Africa to India, the Middle East and Turkey to Eastern Europe; the improvisatory spirit of jazz isn’t far behind. But more important than defining this album is experiencing its emotional power. Astrakan Café is a deeply personal record, filled with introspection and memory and joy and sorrow, and it gets there without the benefit of a single word.
On opening track “Aube Rouge à Grozny," Honsi pounds out a spare beat on his frame drum, the bendir, as Erköse’s clarinet flickers and moans over an exotic scale. It’s simplicity itself, and yet these two musicians speak volumes. There’s an ululating mourner in that keening clarinet, a nigh religious austerity in that drumbeat. Even the trio’s more virtuosic passages are rooted in affect, not histrionics. There’s an air of eerie familiarity to “Halfaouine,” thrummed rhythmically by Brahem as if his oud were a gypsy wagon, ambling slowly from one encampment to the next. The piece was the theme music for a Tunisian film of the same name. Much of Astrakan Café works cinematically, expanding beyond notes and rhythms into visions of panoramic deserts and bustling medinas.
The gorgeous production on Astrakan Café shrouds the Anouar Brahem Trio in a gossamer coat of reverb, which only adds to the intimacy of the album. Every string pluck, clarinet tone, and stroke of the darbouka resonates into the album’s sonic ether, as if the ensemble was playing in the middle of an empty mosque with no audience but themselves. You can hear Erköse’s breathing and occasionally hear Brahem singing softly, wordlessly to himself. Astrakan Café has ecstatic moments too, like the flamenco-infused oud shredding on “Parfum de Gitane,” or the caterwauling clarinet heard on “Hijaz Pechref.” But for the most part, the trio expresses itself with a quiet profundity that radiates long after Brahem’s oud strings stop quivering.
April 24, 2012
Gifts of Intimacy
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
You may be surprised by your own generosity today as you allow your loved ones unprecedented access to your resources. You may be in an unselfish and giving mood, and thus apt to seek out opportunities to do whatever is in your power to improve the lives of the people you care about. Should one of your loved ones approach you and request your time, energy, or skills, you will likely joyfully accept the chance to be there for them. Your generosity can strengthen the connection you share with the people you care about and help you relate more intimately with casual friends and acquaintances. The selflessness you exhibit today by giving without asking anything in return can impress your loved ones and inspire them to similar generosity.
Because every healthy relationship is rooted in interdependence, approaching the process of giving in an unselfish way can reinforce the bonds you share with your loved ones. The gifts you give to your friends and family-whether literal of figurative-demonstrate your willingness to become a partial steward of their well-being. When your purely altruistic generosity is part of a larger, shared network of give and take, your giving spirit will have a place where it can thrive. Even during those periods in which self-sacrifice is called for and the dynamic in your relationships has been thrown off-kilter, you’ll feel the intimacy you share with your loved ones increase each time you give. As you give selflessly of yourself and your resources today, your relationships will flourish.
April 24, 2012
The Power of Union
Entering into Partnership
In partnership and relationship we harness the power of union.
The purpose of partnership is to create something greater than we can create alone. Not because of any deficiency or incompleteness in us, but because each of us is unique, with our own talents and abilities, and in partnership we increase the efforts and talents available for creating something meaningful together. All partnerships, whether romantic, creative, or professionally-based, can be powerful relationships for personal growth. In partnership we harness the power of union.
It is important to choose our partnerships consciously. Sometimes forged quickly during times of need, we may find ourselves rushing into unions with perhaps not the clearest intentions. Partnerships created from those starting point might serve our immediate needs, but the repercussions of a union so quickly fostered without much thought can be difficult to recover from. Granted, there is something to learn from every relationship, but looking to another to fix or complete us can turn a partnership into a dependent bond. If we can stay clear about what we want and what we need in a partnership, while staying grounded and remembering that we are our own source of happiness and fulfillment, we can create partnerships that support and enhance the best of who we are.
Everyone in our lives is a mirror reflecting back the parts we love and dislike about ourselves. If we have the courage to recognize our reflections in each other, we can grow through our partnerships. A partnership that offers both acceptance of who we are and an opportunity for personal transformation can be fertile ground for growing a healthy, lasting union. When we find this kind of partnership, we are more likely to want to keep it, invest in it, and nurture it.
Life is a collaborative effort. Much of what we do can be enhanced through partnership. Together we are stronger because our personal power is multiplied by two. Through partnership we experience the joys of working, living, and loving together.