Search - Música Antigua :: Garden of Al-Andalus

An Amazing Journey

Rick Banales | Los Angeles, CA | 02/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Along with Jordi Savall, Eduardo Paniagua has been at the forefront of the early music movement for years. This album is a wonderful homage to a golden age in Europe, when, for a short period, Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived in peace and cultural diversity in Spain (also called Al-Andalus). This culture developed a wonderful music that incorporated elements of European Renaissance, Sephardic, and Middle Eastern musics. Along with the beautiful flute work of Paniagua and the lutes and percussion of Luis Delgado, the highlights of this album are the vocals sung by Jamila Ghalmi and especially the wonderful oud playing of Wafir Sheik. His ability to play this very difficult instrument with power and finesse is very much on the exalted level of oud legend Munir Bashir.I can't recommend this album enough. For folks who like the music of Vas, Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, or the Cocteau Twins, this music will be a revelation to how much these groups are in debt to Early Music and Renaissance composers.This album is a wonderful example of a project that pays homage to an ancient time while being very contemporary and powerful."