THE MUSIC
THE MUSIC
ORIENT EXPRESS is a synthesis of musics traditional and modern, acoustic and electric, East and West.
The music is based on traditional and modern music (including eastern polyrhythms and modes) from the Balkans, Turkey, The Caucasus, the Middle East, Iran, India and Central Asia, layered with Eastern & Western instruments.
ASIA MAJOR - Played in the flowing, romantic style of the Middle East using the modes of Hijaz and Ushak, the first part features synthesizers and guitar. The second half of the piece features clarinet and Turkish saz (long neck lute) playing improvisations over a 5/4 rhythm, accompanied by synthesizers and percussion, including tabla and zils (finger cymbals).
ZEYBEK - Fashioned on the Greek derivation of the Turkish Eagle Dance from the Aegean Coast of Asia Minor, this piece features synthesizers, guitar and bouzouki over the traditional 9/4 rhythm.
BLACK SEA FANTASY - Featuring Michael Kaliontzidis, the foremost kementche(Black Sea fiddle) player in Greece. The tune rhythm is based on a 9/16 dance from the area around present day Giresun, Turkey (ancient "Kerasous", the Black sea town where the Romans discovered cherries).
CROSSTALK - A synthesis of Eastern and Western styles featuring guitar,kementche, fretless bouzouki and Iranian santur (hammered dulcimer) over rock-style synth, bass and drum bed tracks.
YANNA - With echoes of the mountainous regions of the Epirus area of northern Greece and southern Albania, this piece features flutes, guitar and synthesizers and is named for the city of Yannina in Greece, the capital of the region.
TRABZON REVISITED - Featuring solo guitar, as well as two of Greece's foremost Pontic Greek musicians - Michael Kaliontzidis on kementche and Polios Papagiannidis on tulum (double chanter bagpipe) - this piece incorporates two ancient dance forms as described by Xenophon in the 4th Century B.C.in his travels through the Black Sea area of present day Turkey. Also included is one of the melodies of the 1200-year-old Digenes Akritas, the epic poem of Byzantine border warriors, that is still sung today.
OFFSET - As the name of this song implies, almost every bar has a time change, moving, for example, from 13/8 to 8/8/ to 14/8 to 7/8 to 12/8, without compromising the smoothness and flow of the melody.
THE SABRES OF PARADISE - Starting with a long santur taksim or improvisation,this medley is a mixture of styles, voicings, melodies and rhythms from areas of the Caucasus Mountains as diverse as Daghestan, Ossetia, Chechnia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.
Greek bouzouki - standard Greek bouzouki tuned C F A D
Fretless bouzouki - Greek bouzouki with the frets removed and played in normal tuning
Santur - Iranian hammered dulcimer
Clarinet - Albert system clarinet
Saz - Turkish long necked lute similar in shape to the bouzouki but with a longer neck and microtonal
fretting
Kemenche/Lyra - Kemenche in Turkish, Lyra in Greek. Bottle shaped fiddle from the Southern Black Sea
region. Played in the upright position
Tulum/Angeion - Tulum in Turkish, Angeion in Greek. Polyphonic (no drone)double chanter bagpipe
also from the Southern Black Sea region
Tambura - long necked lute similar to a smaller version of the bouzouki with two double courses tuned A D. Common all over the Balkans
as well as:
electric & acoustic guitars, electric (fretless & fretted) bass, drums and percussion, orchestral & alto flutes and synthesizers
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