Musicians in Central Asia and the Caucasus are putting new twists on traditional forms of music. These innovations were on display during an 11-city tour of the United States by performers from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
The tour, dubbed "Spiritual Sounds of Central Asia: Nomads, Mystics and Troubadours", kicked off with an October 14 performance in Boston and wrapped up November 9 in Chicago. Along the way, the musicians played to a sold-out auditorium at New York's Carnegie Hall.
The tour was organized by the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA). Founded in 2000, the program seeks to preserve and promote traditional art forms in the regions. "Music and cultural development is a means for the region to preserve and convey customs, history, spiritual practices and beliefs," said AKMICA program director Fairouz Nishanova. "When the project initiated, traditional music was diminishing because being a traditional musician in Central Asia was no longer something that called for respect. Our goal is to preserve traditional music as recognizable and sustainable to new generations of audiences and artists in Central Asia and worldwide."
The American tour provided audiences with brief documentary films preceding each group's performance, introducing the musicians, their instruments, their region, and the social context of their music in their home countries. In addition, while the groups were playing, translations of lyrics were projected on to a screen behind the performers.
If audience responses during the US tour can serve as a barometer, folk music in Central Asia and the Caucasus has survived a crisis period, and now seems poised to thrive. "The [US] tour was a wonderful success," Nishanova said, adding that audiences were "very engaged, curious, understanding and respectful."
The tour showcased new trends in regional folk music. For example, one performer from Kazakhstan, Uljan Baibussynova, is a female pioneer in a traditionally male genre called zhyraulik. It's a form of music in which the signer, or zhyrau, recites epic poetry in a raspy, guttural voice with musical accompaniment provided by the dombra, a two-stringed long-necked lute.
"My parents always defended and supported me because they knew I had a talent and love for music from a young age. Since childhood, I have learned that music is inherently a natural part of who you are. Either you have music deep within your genes or you don't," stated Baibussynova.
Challenging musical tradition in a similar fashion, Alim Qasimov, Azerbaijan's most famous folk singer, appeared alongside his 28-year-old daughter, Fargana, on the tour. A winner of a UNESCO-sponsored music prize in 1999, Qasimov specializes in a classical form of Azeri music, called mugham, as well as in a bardic genre, known as ashiq. Both art forms are traditionally male, but that didn't stop Qasimov from encouraging his daughter from taking them up.
"For women it was, and still is very difficult to partake in music or any art form because women have an obligation to look after their children and their family. Luckily, from the age of three or four I was taught poetry and rhythmic mugham by my father, which quickly nourished inside of me," said Fargana Qasimova.
Other participants on the American tour such as members of Tajikistan's Badakhshan Ensemble, represent a different regional tradition that of the self-taught musician. The ensemble's founder, Soheba Davlatshoeva, said she received no formal musical training, and instead gained experience through observing and imitating elders in her home village, nestled in Tajikistan's Pamir Mountains.
"In Badakhshan, we don't have families who don't have musicians or performers. Music is one of the most critical characteristics of our community.
Editor's note:
Gelya Leshchinskiy is an editorial associate at EurasiaNet.
