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Kinan Azmeh: Berlin and Beyond

by Katchie Cartwright
Syrian-born jny: New York-based clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh and his CityBand released Live in Berlin on March 1, 2025 (recorded in 2021), dedicating the project to the people of Syria with this statement: It moves me profoundly to be sharing this album with the world as my Syrian people are able to sing again after the long and costly struggle against tyranny and dictatorship. The album is dedicated to all who believe that making music is also an act ...
Continue ReadingKinan Azmeh, Yazz Ahmed, Arturo O'Farrill, Mortelle Randonnée & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
Enjoy a playlist featuring heartfelt and original tributes to Carla Bley, and projects enriched by Arabic, West-African and Indian traditions.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Mortelle Randonnée Musique Mecanique I" La reine uphone (Mr. Morezon) 0:16 Host talks 5:28 Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Blue Palestine Part Two" Mundoagua--Celebrating Carla Bley (Zoho) 7:08 Host talks 12:43 Yazz Ahmed Though My Eyes Go ro Sleep, My ...
Continue ReadingKinan Azmeh: Live in Berlin

by Frank Housh
Clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh occupies a unique space in the musical world. He is grew up with Western classical music and trained at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus as well as Juilliard, where he began his studies one week before the 9/11 attacks. His expansive and eclectic body of work includes compositions for orchestra, chamber music, opera, theater, dance, film, and most recently, scoring 30 episodes of the Syrian-Lebanese TV series, Nazret Hob" ("Look of ...
Continue ReadingTake Five With Clarinet And Composer Kinan Azmeh

by AAJ Staff
Meet Kinan Azmeh Hailed as a virtuoso, intensely soulful" by The New York Times and spellbinding" by the New Yorker, Syrian-born, Brooklyn-based genre-bending composer, clarinetist and improvisor Kinan Azmeh has been touring the globe with great acclaim. He has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, John McLaughlin, Daniel Barenboim and the New York Philharmonic, among others. Azmeh is the winner of Germany's Opus Klassik Award for his solo album Uneven Sky (Dreyer Gaido, 2019) and is featured on the Grammy-winning album Sing ...
Continue ReadingBob Gluck: Early Morning Star

by Jerome Wilson
On this release, pianist Bob Gluck mixes the realms of classical music and jazz in interesting ways. The formal, declarative music produced by Gluck, clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and vocalist Andrea Wolper is given flow and earthiness by the rhythmic pull of bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Tani Tabbal. The front-line combination fluidly rises and falls through pieces like the sparkling A Time of Singing," with Wolper singing words from the Bible's Song of Songs over surging piano, and ...
Continue ReadingBob Gluck: Early Morning Star

by Karl Ackermann
Composer/pianist/electronic artist Bob Gluck's musical repertoire is particularly diverse. Among his many electro-acoustic projects are the borderless duo album Textures and Pulsations (Ictus Records, 2012) with Aruán Ortiz, Tropelets (Ictus Records, 2014) featuring improvisations based on Jewish biblical chants, and Infinite Spirit (FMR Records, 2016) where he pays tribute to Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi Band. In the latter, Gluck brought in drummer Billy Hart and trumpeter Eddie Henderson from that relatively short-lived group. For Early Morning Star Gluck has brought together ...
Continue ReadingKinan Azmeh's CityBand Live At BIMHUIS Amsterdam

by BIMHUIS
Clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh is internationally renowned for his intense, spirited performances. The Syrian born musician uses music to transcend cultural barriers, performing with projects as diverse as Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, the New York Philharmonic and Dutch trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. In 2006 he formed the CityBand, a four-piece band that strikes a balance between classical, jazz and music from his homeland Syria. Personnel: Kinan Azmeh: clarinet; Kyle Sanna guitar, Josh Myers bass, John Hadfield drums. ...
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