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Road To Damascus
A torrential Saturday night downpour did little to dampen the spirits of the enlightened crowd who gathered in the harsh light of the renovated Assembly Rooms of Islington Town Hall to celebrate the album release of Syriana’s The Road To Damascus on Real World Records. Word of Syriana’s heady collision of musical genres and visuals at this year’s WOMAD had definitely seeped out.
Syriana is a concept. It was born of musicians talking and exchanging and it homes in on a city, an elegant and ancient city that is today surrounded by encampments of tented refugees. The shadow of both 1921 and 1948 and the division of the Middle East for oil and other resources continues to dominate the political and physical landscape and this meeting of musical minds - guitarist Nick ‘Dubulah’ Page (Transglobal Underground & Dub Colossus , Syrian Quanun virtuoso Abdullah Chhadeh and contra bassist and composer Bernard O’Neill – generates significant echoes of an era by exploring themes of hope, tolerance and liberty.
“This album was an attempt by all three of us to counter the new Cold War we felt was being created and foisted upon the world in the last few years,” explained a relaxed Nick Page before going onstage. “We had to revisit the original Cold War. We all grew up during the 1960s and wanted to explore that era – the impact of music, TV, film and Cold War politics and conflict on lives in both Europe and the Middle East. Syriana is James Bond and John Barry meets Abdel Halim and Fairuz.”
On the album Bernard O’Neill’s double bass sits at the mid-point between east and west, as it can play eastern 1/4 tone scales or western semitone scales. It is the bridging instrument of the group. The qanun, violin and oud represent eastern tonality, intonation and tradition. They create a beautiful sound that awakens memories going back thousands of years.
With Abdullah Chhadeh no longer involved in the live project, the musicians who strolled onstage alongside Page and O’Neil were Algerian violinist Mounir Baziz, Palestinian percussionist Iba Abu Khalaf and the Jordan-raised Palestinian singer/oud player, Nizar Issa. From the off they flawlessly meshed their live solos and Nizar’s vocals with pared back, recorded rhythm tracks which allowed the audience to bathe in the sounds of the sweeping rhythmic brush strokes of the seven piece Pan Arab Strings Of Damascus.
“Sadly, the latter are not allowed to leave Syria.” revealed the guitarist. “Recording with them and Abdullah in Damascus was a fantastic, eye opening experience. The Pan Arab Strings of Damascus are a democratic group of players comprising Syrian, Iraqi and Kurdish violinists, 3 of whom are band leaders in their own right. Working with them in Damascus made us all realize how lucky we are to be able to travel … that most of the world does not have this freedom of movement.”
In an off-stage backroom, photographer/ film-maker Nico Piazza concocted a mix of stills and moving imagery which graced the screen behind the stage. By the early 60s the memories and hardships of war receded in the Middle East. A new optimism emerged. It was glamorous. As the music of the song ‘Gharibb’ swirled around us I was struck by its similarity to tango and we were confronted with images of Cairo and Damascus night life that embraced sharp suits, tailored dresses, champagne and cigarettes that contrasted with photos depicting austere western suited gentleman sporting the ubiquitous fez.
Impressionistic, at times menacing, Cold War imagery filled the screen behind the musicians… jet planes…waves of bombers riding on the sounds from ancient times that ebbed and flowed and coalesced around Page’s spacey electric guitar. It’s an instrument that has had global impact and, in the context of Syriana, the sound of the electric guitar represents the spearhead of Western pop culture across the planet.
Stepping out of the venue into the unrelenting rain, after being immersed in music that shimmered with the heat of the desert, should have been a complete downer but Syriana’s widescreen, cinematic sound, where the John Barry Seven meets Marc Ribot meets Hank Marvin via Abdel Halim, Sabah and Asmahan carried this listener all the way home.
Syriana - Road To Damascus is out now on Real World
Watch out for Nick Page's Ethiopian musical collision Dub Colossus live at Bloomsbury Ballroom on 10 November 2010.
Paul Bradshaw / Straight No Chaser
// ALSO
- Chucho’s Steps
- 80s World Music Classics
- Ana Hina
- Dub Colossus
- Joe Bataan & James Pants live at Cargo 11 June plus dates in Leeds and Birmingham
- New Awards for World Music
- OPV, Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio
- Khaled, Liberté
- Tony Allen, Afrobeat ace
// ALL SYRIANA' VIDEOS
// LINKS
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Abod
16/11/2010
Dear Paul, I have recently read your article about the Syriana album. I thought it might be useful to provide you with some facts that are more grounded in the truth than what may have been supplied to you. I would rather it not it have come to this, that I am forced to tell you what happened with my relationship with Real World Records and Syriana and the reason the tour is happening without me. In 2008 I invited Nick Page (guitarist) to work with me on a music project based on Qanun and guitar collaboration. Nick and I agreed to call this collaboration Abdullah Chhadeh
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