Alif: Love Supreme

Amazon.com
Music has been called the international language, and for good reason. Even when disparate genres or styles seem to have no relation, we can still make connections between them. On Alif: Love Supreme, multi-instrumentalist Omar Faruk Tekbilek, producer and multi-instrumentalist Steve Shehan, and an international cast of musicians--including a Spanish guitarist and singers from Persia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Israel--present traditional and contemporary renditions of songs from the Mediterranean. Whether they are performing a medley of Sufi songs from Turkey, a love song from Azerbaijan, or a modern version of a popular Israeli song, the compositions' cross-cultural roots are apparent. Much of this music covers familiar ground, but there are some intriguing tracks. The chosen selections on Alif are ultimately a mixed bag, but at least this collective is striving to create its own universal language. --Bryan Reesman

Alif: Love Supreme,Omar Fruk Tekbilek,Narada,Ethnic Fusion,Int'l & World Music,Pop,Turkish,Turkish Folk,World Music

Average customer rating: So much hope... The album for the perplexed Middle Eastern Music Without Borders Wonderfully sensual and dreamy.... Forbidden Love

Alif: Love Supreme Omar Fruk Tekbilek Manufacturer: Narada ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music Turkey | Middle East | International | Styles | Music General | New Age | Styles | Music Similar Items: Crescent Moon Mystical Garden 3 Tree of Patience Dance into Eternity: Selected Pieces 1987-1998 ASIN: B000060NUS Release Date: 2002-02-26

Tracks:

1. Dulger
2. Gardener
3. Laundry Girl
4. Dark Eyes
5. Shinanay
6. Don't Cry My Love
7. Alif
8. Dadash
9. Take A Flight
10. Ya Bouy
11. Lachin
12. Forbidden Love

Amazon.com

Music has been called the international language, and for good reason. Even when disparate genres or styles seem to have no relation, we can still make connections between them. On Alif: Love Supreme, multi-instrumentalist Omar Faruk Tekbilek, producer and multi-instrumentalist Steve Shehan, and an international cast of musicians--including a Spanish guitarist and singers from Persia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Israel--present traditional and contemporary renditions of songs from the Mediterranean. Whether they are performing a medley of Sufi songs from Turkey, a love song from Azerbaijan, or a modern version of a popular Israeli song, the compositions' cross-cultural roots are apparent. Much of this music covers familiar ground, but there are some intriguing tracks. The chosen selections on Alif are ultimately a mixed bag, but at least this collective is striving to create its own universal language. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews:

So much hope..........2007-06-20

...so much disappointment. As a longtime Faruk fan, I was delighted to have an opportunity to hear him play a live concert with a small group of other very talented musicians. I bought this album specifically to have a recording of a tune that was new to me that night, "Gardener," but looked forward to finding several other gems, as has always happened for me with his albums.

Let me say that the first track is lovely - it is the only reason I keep the album. However, I would not have recognized "Gardener" if the track weren't named on the cover. The performance onstage was hauntingly beautiful, subtle, nuanced and traditional, yet vibrantly alive with emotion. The track on this album is none of those things. It is muddied, its emotional content lost, overburdened by too much of nothing that adds to the piece.

And that pretty much sums up my feeling about the album as a whole. World music can be terrific and stimulating. Cross-cultural exploration can be stunning when it reveals new dimensions of traditional music, as some of Faruk's work with Brian Keane has demontrated. But this album feels like someone just threw a bunch of things in a pot, then overprocessed it. I found myself wondering whether "producer and multi-instrumentalist" Steve Shehan understands the concept of "less can be more," a concept Faruk's previous albums and the concert that night displayed masterfully.

The album for the perplexed.......2003-10-24

You have been curios about Middle Eastern music. You thought you may like it. If only you could get an album that will lead you gently into the genre. This album is it. Perfection in every track. Begin with track 4; "Dark Eyes" and you'll be hooked on OFT forever! An unbelievable artistic accomplishment!

Middle Eastern Music Without Borders.......2003-06-02

Turkish master Omar Faruk Tekbilek (with Steve Shahen and a host of talented musicians from Iran, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Spain and Turkey) really goes beyond limitations here, creating some of the most beautiful, ephemeral music I have ever heard. Despite the obvious Turkish influences, this music incorporates a wide range of styles from across the Middle East; Anatolian folk, Rromani (Gypsy), Greek, Bulgarian, Sufi, Egyptian, Azeri and classical influences can all be felt here, amongst others. Spanish guitar mixes with the Turkish ney. Its so amazing. This really is pan-Middle Eastern music, worthy of the name "Alif". It represents the whole of Middle/Near Eastern culture. Mere words alone cannot describe the beauty and elegence of this music. From the very beginning, "Dulger" calls to mind images from the heyday of the Ottoman Empire, and you will be moved by songs like "Laundry Girl" and "Dark Eyes". "Alif", the title track, is absolutely haunting, and "Dadash" is simply filled with splendor and wonder. And from there it goes to the lively and exotic "Ya Bouy". If you appreciate Middle Eastern or Mediterranean music, then there isn't a single song on this CD that will disappoint you. A note on the songs, by the way, is that they come from various sources. "Dulger" and "Alif" were originally Sufi devotional pieces, "Take a Flight" and "Forbidden Love" are contemporary arrangements in traditional styles, "Ya Bouy" was composed by the legendary Farid al-Atrache, "Don't Cry My Love" and "Lachin" are both based off folk songs, and "Dadash" is a medley of Anatolian styles. The sheer scope and range of these pieces, and the fact that they mix and match elements of different cultures and styles, means that it will likely appeal to any fan of Middle Eastern music. Even those who have never listened to Turkish classical music or any other music from that region will likely find this to be a wonderful buy. I strongly recommend this CD.

Wonderfully sensual and dreamy...........2003-01-15

I am not familiar with Tekbilek's earlier work (but soon hope to be), however I can say with certainty that this is one of the best albums I have bought in a long time. It's incredibly sensual and highly emotional-- really touching. A must for fans of Arabic/World music.

Forbidden Love.......2002-11-18

I seem to have the knack of buying CDs where I simply love 1 track (& play it to death) whilst giving the rest a lukewarm reception. And that's the title of this review!! FORBIDDEN LOVE or Track #12 ....Haunting, Passionate, Wild, Wistful, Wailing, Rebellious, Brooding, Resigned ... all rolled into one & just so beautiful.
I find the fact that it was originally a Jewish song & now
sung in Arabic poignant too ... why can't folks in the Middle East just give & take from each other the way Artists do ? I firmly believe that truly good Music & Art is Beautiful & Pure....it transcends All races, All cultures, All divides & All religions.

Even though I am a Tekbilek fan ... great respect for his multi-talented musicality & actually like his voice...

Yeah....I'd still get this for that 1 track though .... Maybe one day OFT should compile all those rave favourites onto 1 disc...& then that would be guarantueed to go Platinum !!

Rock Music:

1. Apple Juice [Live] [Original recording remastered] [Import]
2. Bali: Golden Rain
3. Canciones de Garcia Lorca [Import]
4. Charles Trenet: Il Y'a D'la Joie
5. Concert for Peace [Live]
6. Courtly Love [Live]
7. Days are Coming
8. De Mil Colores
9. Demis Roussos [Import]
10. Dil to Pagal Hai [Import]

Rock Music

rock music

Recommended Music:

Exotic Beatles 2

Dunstable: Cathedral sounds

Francesco Saverio Mercadante: Musica Sacra e Stile Operistico

Private Press [Explicit Lyrics]

Exposures

Dear Lie [CD-single] [Import]

Das Beste [Import]

Enjoy Yourself [CD-single]

Dark [CD-single] [Import]

Bridges of Song

eX

Colecao Talento [Import]

Fat Jazzy Grooves, Vols. 15-16

Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Rachmaninov, Horowitz, Arrau, et al

Live at the Royal Festival Hall 2004