The Kabul Ensemble - Presentation

The Kabul Ensemble, devoted to the performance of traditional music from Afghanistan, was formed in 1995 in Geneva (within the framework of the Ateliers d’ethnomusicologie) by Hossein Arman, a renowned singer in his native Afghanistan who was forced into exile by the political situation there. Hossein Arman, his son Khaled (rubâb and artistic director) and his cousin Osman (flautist), form the nucleus of the ensemble. They are joined on their last CD by the late Ustad Malang, the great master of the zirbaghali drum, who traveled from, Peshawar (Pakistan) for the recording ; Yussuf Mahmood, a member of a long line of tablâ payers, Taher Hakami, a young singer with a remarkable natural flair for vocal music, and Paul Grant, of American origin, who reintroduces the santûr which had disappeared from Afghan music.

As in most oriental music, the repertoire of the Kabul Ensemble is based on a traditional corpus of melodic modes (râg) and time cycles (tâl, sometimes known as zarb). The Kabul Ensemble shows deep respect for the musical heritage of Afghanistan (including the various influences that have been assimilated over the centuries), while retaining its own individual character. The ensemble’s repertoire draws from the classicaland folk heritage from the various regions of Afghanistan, but its interpretation is refined by Khaled’s very careful arrangements. The Kabul Ensemble’s characteristic sound is produced by a unique blend of timbres, those of the rubâb and the santûr - the latter rarely been used in Afghanistan, at least not over the past forty years. The group also brings together several percussion instruments : the tablâ of Indian origin, the Afghan zirbaghali (similar to the Iranian zarb and the darbukka of the Islamic Middle East and North Africa, thus reflecting the various facets of Afghan music and influences.

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