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Mohammad Syfkhan I Am Kurdish Nyahh Review by Bruce Miller
Needless to say, this debut is long overdue. With nary a duff track in the mix, Syfkhan wraps his bouzouki around the programmed percussion in a way that makes at least some of what’s here ready for the dance floor. But he never lets go of the music’s romance. “Wasted Years,” for example, perhaps the most breathtaking track on the album, features the sax, the cello, and his bouzouki announcing the melody before the bouzouki wanders off on its own, nothing but programmed hand drums holding in place. Opener, “Do You Have a Lover or Not?”, on the other hand, acts as something of a mission statement, timed for dancers, with his bouzouki circling his vocals before a solo that climbs toward ecstasy. “A Thousand and One Nights,” intertwines bouzouki and clarinet before a pounding, mid-tempo groove caps their conversation. The two instruments dance in sync, before a double-timed rhythm causes their harmonies to shift, bringing a subtle heat.
Syfkhan’s debut, brought about by his need to flee horrible circumstances that cost him his son, cannot but provide an astounding example of how music is necessary for healing In a world where wars, extremist politics aimed at causing violence to so many, and climate-induced disasters are constantly creating more and more refugees. But we also have the opportunity to listen to what they bring to other cultures. This record is not only brilliant in its own right, it serves as a bulwark against those whose unreasonable fears of “the other” continue to serve as an ugly platform for reactionary politics, which only assist in discounting the talents of people we should be welcoming into our communities. It’s also a reminder that none of us is immune from refugee status.
Further reading and listening:
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Ireland’s Nyahh records, a label that has already released a number of titles focusing largely on experimental music usually recorded in the label’s home country, branches out to include Kurdish Syrian Bouzouki player Mohammad Syfkhan. Having played festivals and weddings in Syria since the early 1980s, Syfkhan now calls Ireland home, after fleeing the war in Syria in 2011, which explains how he ended up connected to Nyahh. The record, which features his electrified bouzouki, sometimes accompanied by cello or saxophone, weaves over a canned rhythm section and is deliriously infectious. The rhythms conjure limitless expanses. There are undertones of Egypt here, occasionally the speed of dabke from Syria’s Houran region there.
