LP by SUBLIME FREQUENCIES USA 2016

Xinjiang (Eastern Turkestan) is China's biggest province. The musical landscape here is one of the world's richest. The Uyghur and the Kazakh are the two main ethnicities represented on these recordings made by Laurent Jeanneau and Shi Tanding in June of 2009. The Kazakh (nomadic) and Uyghur (agricultural) have multiple linguistic ties. Much of this music shares many influences from the Arab world, Turkey, and Persia. The sound is that of the Islamic tradition stretching from Turkey to the most eastern frontier of the Chinese empire. These recordings and performances feature some of the area's greatest musicians playing instruments like the satar, tanbur, dotar, rawab, rushtar, and dongbra, among many others. These tracks represent ecstatic examples of the region's rich musical voice. Buzzing plucked strings and epic tales of the life and legacy of one of the oldest (2500 years) and richest cultural areas of central Asia. Performers include Kurban, Pa Hat, Adengr, Kali, Jaymanur Ajabek, Kurmanjiang Zaccharia, and Jaymanur Ajabek.
credits
released February 19, 2016

Xinjiang ( new frontier in chinese ) or Eastern Turkestan  has seen a huge turn over of population, the expanding Han chinese have colonized this vast area. Spread from Mongolia to Afghanistan, it s the biggest Chinese province. In the western northern part of Xinjiang is the prefecture of ILI, called Yining outside of China and Ghulja by the Turkophones.  

In Ili prefecture live more than a million Kazakh people, ranking second largest ethnic group after the Hans, 650000 Uyghur people, ranking third largest ethnic group, but Uyghurs were the predominant ethnic group of Xinjiang with 9 millions people, before the recent Han colonization. This north western part of Xinjiang is considered Kazakh, but also home of other proto turkish ethnic groups, Mongolians,  and Huis ( non-turkish Chinese Muslims speaking mandarin) . if the Kazakhs were nomads, the  Uyghurs with whom they share a lot linguistically were sedentary merchants and agriculturists.

The UYGHUR of Ili area perpetuate their classical music which is often intended to be played in large ensembles but here small units of musicians have been recorded, tunes that gather so many influences from the arab world, Turkey and Persia . KUR BAN (on front cover) plays most string instruments like the SATAR (a 1 stringed bowed instrument with 12 side strings) or the TANBUR (a 5 metal stringed (2 double strings) plucked instrument ) or RAWAB (a 4 stringed plucked instrument ) is an instruments maker, his son PAHAT plays TANBUR, ADENGR plays DOTAR (a 2 nylon stringed plucked instrument) is an instruments maker, KALI plays TCHANG (the Uyghur equivalent to a Persian santoor) and DAP (small tambourine) is a retired professional musician,  ILI ZATI plays RUSHTAR (a 4 stringed bowed violin) is a music teacher.

The KAZAKH predominant instrument is the DONGBRA, a 2 stringed plucked lute which can be used playing while singing , the most artistic form of it is called Ay ikesse performed by AKEN or poet improvising singers, but here the recordings present a more sophisticated instrumental form that reach his peak in compositions of the 19th century in the russian influenced part of what is now Kazakhstan, somehow what can be called the classical Kazakh music.
KURMANJIANG ZACCHARIA is a dongbra virtuoso, music teacher and performer for prestigious shows.  JAYMANUR AJABEK is a dongbra student from KUI TUN fine arts  university and relative of KURMANJIANG ZACCHARIA with whom he started learning  .

A SIDE
1 BAHAR SEYLISI (springtime walk) performed by KURBAN / SATAR and VOICE + PA HAT / TANBUR  + ADENGR / DOTAR and VOICE
2 ILI BOYLIRI (Yining s river bank) performed by KURBAN / SATAR and VOICE + PA HAT / TANBUR  + ADENGR / DOTAR and VOICE
3 MARGUL performed by KURBAN /TANBUR

B SIDE
1 SPEED HAPPY TUNE performed by JAYMANUR AJABEK / DONGBRA
2 UXXAK performed by PAHAT / TANBUR + KURBAN / DOTAR (joining at the end)
3 MOTHER performed by KURMANJIANG ZACCHARIA / DONGBRA
4 YELEUKE SULIHEMU performed by JAYMANUR AJABEK / DONGBRA
5 QINBULAK performed by KURBAN / RAWAB + PAHAT / DOTAR + ADENGR / DAP + KALI / TCHANG

RECORDED IN ILI XINJIANG CHINA IN MAY, JUNE 2009
BY LAURENT JEANNEAU and SHI TANDING
kinkgong.net

Find out more text, photos and different tracks, involving the same musicians on previously released CD SF57 "ETHNIC MINORITY MUSIC OF NORTH WEST XINJIANG / CHINA" released on SUBLIME FREQUENCIES