Music From the Tea Lands

Amazon.com
This pan-Asian travelogue features musicians from China, India, Tatarstan, Indonesia, Japan, Turkey, and Iran. Aside from the unifying theme of the 400-hundred-year-old tea trade, the tunes have little in common and range from modern fusions to intriguing glimpses of rarely heard traditions. Assorted strings dominate the instrumental forces, especially harplike sounds, but the vocals are equally strong. Among the most fascinating tracks are Zulya's beguiling recollections of her Tatar childhood, Oki's tribute to his endangered Ainu (Japanese aboriginal) heritage, the Anatolian Turkish saz (lute) stylings of Okan Murat Ozturk, and an arrestingly percussive example of Iran's classical Persian disciplines as performed by Kamil Alipour. The set offers an array of unexpected pleasures from cultures that deserve to be better documented in the West. It is as mellow yet invigorating as the perfect tea break. A recipe for chai, a spicy Indian milk tea, is included. --Christina Roden

From Rhythm Magazine
Like Music from the Coffee Lands, its 1997 forerunner, this collection initially seems a bit contrived, but it begins to make sense when one considers that tea is the most common beverage in the world and is associated with a broad diversity of mostly Asian cultures. The music on here is as marvelous as it is obscure, with a peaceful quality that is indeed compatible with a good cup of tea. Except for Ancient Future, whose track is drawn from a Narada CD, the ten performers are little known. Several of them, including singer Zulya from Tatarstan, erhu player Lei Qiang from China and guitarist Sanjay Mishra from India, have left their native turf for Australia and North America. --Paul-Emile Comeau

Tracks:

Saginou - Zulya
Picking Flowers - Lei Qiang
Hangama Hai Kyon Barpa - Ghulam Ali
For Julia - Sanjay Mishra
Utuwaskarap - Oki
Gerizler Basi - Okan Murat Ozturk
Afshari - Kamil Alipour
Anggopanku - Hila Hambala
The Empress - Ancient Future
Kang Mandor - Ujang Suryana

Product Description

A soothing, inspirational brew of exotic music steeped in the traditions of Asia's tea lands. Zulya Saginou Lei Qiang Picking Flowers Ghulam Ali Hangama Hai Kyon Barpa Sanjay Mishra For Julia Oki Utuwaskarap Okan Murat Öztürk Gerizler Basi Kamil Alipour Afshari Hila Himbala Anggopanku Ancient Future The Empress Ujang Suryana Kang Mandor

Amazon.com

This pan-Asian travelogue features musicians from China, India, Tatarstan, Indonesia, Japan, Turkey, and Iran. Aside from the unifying theme of the 400-hundred-year-old tea trade, the tunes have little in common and range from modern fusions to intriguing glimpses of rarely heard traditions. Assorted strings dominate the instrumental forces, especially harplike sounds, but the vocals are equally strong. Among the most fascinating tracks are Zulya's beguiling recollections of her Tatar childhood, Oki's tribute to his endangered Ainu (Japanese aboriginal) heritage, the Anatolian Turkish saz (lute) stylings of Okan Murat Ozturk, and an arrestingly percussive example of Iran's classical Persian disciplines as performed by Kamil Alipour. The set offers an array of unexpected pleasures from cultures that deserve to be better documented in the West. It is as mellow yet invigorating as the perfect tea break. A recipe for chai, a spicy Indian milk tea, is included. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews:

So Good You Could Drink It.......2006-09-21

At first i had doubts when i bought this cd, thinking it was going to be a little over the top. I was suprised to find out that I was wrong. All the songs are so light and dainty and beautifully composed. I especially liked Sanjay Mishra's "For Julia" and Ancient Future's "The Empress", but I absolutely loved Lei Quang's "Picking Flowers". This is by far one of my favorite Putumayo albums. I even like it better than Music From The Coffee Lands!

Journey Across the Asian Continent.......2006-09-03

Billed as a journey across the "Tea Lands", this CD gives an incredible survey of the musical styles of Asia. Asia is a vast and diverse continent, from the frozen steppes of the north to the tropical jungles of India and SE Asia. Some of the oldest civilizations arose there, along the Indus River (in Paksitan) and the Yellow River valley (in China). The religions of Hinudism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto arose in Asia, and Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim countrie. The world's two largest countries, India and China, are both in Asia. The result? You have an incredible variety of languages, cultures and people, all with their own styles of music. Any CD managing to cover even a little of that diversity is amazing, but this CD manages to do just that.

So just whats on this CD, you might ask. Well, alot of good stuff, actually. From the tiny semi-autonomous republic of Tatarstan, Zulya performs a haunting, melodic song. Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali sings a ghazal of love and devotion, while Iranian setar and tar player Kamil Alipour shows the wonder of classical Persian music in the mode Dastgah Afshari. Indonesian composer Ujang Suryana leads a Gamelan ensemble, Turkey's Okan Murat Ozturk demonstrates Anatolian folk music, and Oki revives the traditions of Japan's indigenous culture with Ainu pop, complete with the hankori, a native Ainu instrument. Yes, thats right, Ainu pop! Chinese erhu-player Lei Qiang does a traditional song from Sichuan, while the group Ancient Future does a mellow techno number drawing upon Chinese, Japanese and Indian instrumentation.

This is good music, quite appropriate for listening to while drinking tea if your so inclined. In fact, the booklet includes a history of tea and it's cultural role, as well as a recipe for Indian chaai. The Putumayo label has put out a number of great world music CDs, and this should definately be included amongst them. Listening to this CD will shatter any stereotypes you may have about Asian music. It is certainly worth adding to your collection, and good music to listen to while drinking tea, meditating or just chilling out. Several of my friends have commented that they liked this CD as well, and were amazed at how diverse Asian music is. So do yourself a favor and check out this CD, along with some of the other compilations from Putumayo.

Putumayo's First Asian adventure.......2006-06-12

Putumayo's first venture into Asia with this CD is wonderful--a breathtaking exploration of Asian countries through music.While tea is the unifying theme,the music is as calm as a hot cup.

This is centered on instrumentals&they are musical nirvana.

Ancient Future has a great track fusing different styles of Asian music,as does Oki,who shows the ancient roots of Japan in the Ainu people.Oki Kano also collaborated with Carlos Nakai on "Island of Bows." Sanjay Mishra's "For Julia" is acoustic guitar meets India.Lei Qiang contributes a traditional Chinese instrumental,making one think of the Forbidden City,or the ancient temples.Okan Murat Ozturk from Turkey&Kamil Alipour from Iran evoke the serenity through their instrumental music.They show that lyrics aren't always necessary for powerfully soothing music.Zulya is an Enya from Tatarstan,at once New Agey&earthy.She collaborates with an African musician,uniting different musical traditions harmoniously.

This CD is ideal for meditative settings.

charming and calming.......2006-02-24

Very good belend of relaxing and fused music with traditional and some western sound intwined.

Meditative.......2006-01-31

My other CDs by Putumayo have been music that you put on while driving down the open road on a sunny day- upbeat, fun, fresh. The music on this CD requires a meditative mood. You wouldn't want to listen to it in the car because all the intricacies would be drowned out by the engine. There is much delicate music on this CD, gorgeous lutes and harps, spine-tingling sundanese metallophones and soft gongs. This CD makes you feel so incredibly good and relaxed if you listen to it quietly in your room. I love it!

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