Transe Soufie d'Alep Aleppian Sufi Transe by
Ensemble Al Kindi and Sheikh Habboush - 2005
In 1992 I went and caught a movie that had got my attention. It was called Baraka and I came away transfixed by the music as well as the wonderful scenery presented. This was a docu drama with no words and an appropriate piece of music to suit the scene. This was the movie that introduced me to the sublime Hosts of Seraphim by Dead Can Dance. This movie also introduced to me to Whirling Dervishes and that is what you see on the cover of this album. While trawling blog world this album stood out in the fact that it reminded me not only of Baraka but the amazing dancing of these people who are of a Sufi order called Mevleviye. To see them whirl around for a considerable length of time has to be seen to be believed.
If one is to listen to an album like this it is going to be difficult to explain as it is not something that I have had much contact with. To quote the the blog.
Quote:
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Ahmed HABBOUSH Shaykh Habbush inherited his mystical knowledge from his father who was also a Sufi shaykh. He was initiated in several mystical traditions, but the tariqa Qadiriyya and the tariqa Rifa‘iyya are the main sources of his mystical teachings and of the ritual structure of his dhikr. The Rifa‘i influence on shaykh Habboush can be seen on the presence in his zawiya of the iron skewers used in the performance of the darab al-shish. While he is entitled by his initiation in the Rifa‘iyya to perform the darab al-shish in his disciples, he usually prefers other forms of evaluation of their advance in the mystical path.
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Make of that what you will. I do like the cover though. As stated above it reminded me of a scene from the wonderful Baraka. But it also reminded me, on reflection, that we Music Banter members are also very Western centric in our tastes. We think that because we listen to a wide range of genres we are in fact versatile. But are we? The vast majority of music discussed, Rock, Jazz, folk and Classical, is predominantly western in it's roots. Would anyone listen to sufi music, or for that matter any Eastern religious or ethnic styled music that is not within those genre confines? Most would not. And lets be honest even the rather oddly termed World Music genre is really a fusion of non west with the western sounds to make it more palatable. Am I being cynical? I hope not as I like ethnic fusion. See my love of Dead Can Dance for example.
After all that I will admit that this has been a listening experience that I am unable to appreciate or understand and in reality would have liked to have had this on a DVD with some eastern scenery to make it more entertaining, and that is not the word I am looking for but none other come to mind. In the end I guess I am saying that culturally I am not of the East be that of middle of far so as open minded as I think I am some things will always be difficult. I am happy to have had the experience of listening to Sufi chanting as part of my life's experiance but in the end would rather see Whirling Dervishes and Sufi singers live in the Middle East while being a despised tourist than listening here in my home town and on my Walkman.