Search - Sheikh Habboush, Al-Kindi Ensemble :: Aleppian Sufi Trance

Good but can't listen to it anymore

Harold A. Roth | Elmira, NY | 12/22/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this double album because I was interested in any sort of music from Aleppo, the birthplace of my grandfather, and because I had some familiarity with Sufism.



I have no idea if the music is performed well in terms of its form, since I am not an expert on the form. However, it is very beautiful, and the recording is well produced. This is not some cheap in-the-field recording. I listened to it with enjoyment many times.



I did feel some discomfort when I read after purchasing it that some Sufi orders have been involved in reactionary political movements and even violence in the Middle East and elsewhere. Still, there is no indication that this particular group has any such interests. Then I discovered that the zither player, Julien Weiss, originally from Switzerland, is an Orientalist [using the word in Said's sense] of the highest order and bought himself a 16th-century mansion that formerly belonged to some Grand High Bigshot in Aleppo. The singer on this album, Sheikh Habboush, who is also Weiss's "spiritual leader" and who practices a type of Sufism that involves the insertion of metal skewers to prove one's faith, remarked of Weiss in an interview that perhaps Weiss could one day become "a sort of priest for pimps." What in the world??? This creepy remark, together with Weiss's Orientalism, made me feel so uncomfortable that I can no longer enjoy this album.



It is great to hear accomplished traditional music, and this is certainly that, but it is impossible to remove that music from its context. In this case, that context is embarrassing to Sufism as well as to Westerners interested in other cultures. Take this into account before you buy it."

A real class act... Sufi music at its most perfect

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 01/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Beautifully packaged, with classy, luscious graphic design and copious, highly informative liner notes, this handsome 2-CD set presents some of the world's greatest Sufi music from one of the most revered modern ensembles, the Ensemble Al-Kindi of Damascus, Syria. Sufi worshippers and fans of world music alike will find these albums quite compelling -- the music is drenched in transcendant, ecstatic spirituality, quite heartfelt and melodically rich. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED."