The best of music is to bring people and ideas together. Mehmet Ali Sanlikol brings his voice and middle eastern instruments of the ney, zurna and ud to team up with guest soprano saxist Dave Liebmen and the 18 member orchestra conducted by Ken Schaphorst to speak to “our better angels” in this time of tumult.
There are three separate three-part stories that ultimately tie into one musical mosaic. “Rumi” is a narrative from 13th century Sufi poet Mevlana Celaleddin-I Rumi, with “Sephardin” focusing on the Jews being expelled from Spain in1492 and “Sinin” the tale of a young Orthodox Christian boy who is kidnapped and eventually rises to become a master architect of mosques.
“Rumi” has some wonderful flute by Rick Stone and some rich percussion by George Lernis on sounds that are both danceable and dreamy, with Aanlikol adding rich nasaly chanting on “Rumi’s Solitude”. Dramatic klezmeric horns, and some Iberian oud tones take you to a Mediterranean shtetl on “Sephardim”, with Liebman bopping on “Rise Thru The Barracks” sandwiched between some Byzantine chants, closing with a note of hope.
This is music that tells a story and in the context of history shows that there have always been times of trouble, yet the faithful always endure. Encouraging sounds.