SELIM SESLER (CLICK TO ENLARGE)The 12th Annual World Music Festival Chicago wraps up tomorrow. As usual, there were just too many interesting-looking shows for me to attend during its 10-day run at multiple venues throughout the city, but that's a nice problem to have. My friend Mike, who I first met at one of the John Berberian events at the Old Town School of Folk Music back in April, got in touch with me last week and strongly encouraged me to meet him and check out the musicians who were scheduled to perform at Martyrs' on Monday, September 27. One of them, Macedonian-American clarinetist Jim Stoynoff, is a friend of Mike's and someone who he was sure that I would like, both personally and musically. Of course, he was right. Stoynoff is an amazingly talented clarinet player who can handle Balkan, Turkish, klezmer, and other material with equal skill, and it was a joy to experience his music in a live setting. His set was followed by a performance from another woodwind virtuoso, the Turkish Roma clarinetist Selim Sesler, who is rightly regarded by cognoscenti as a legend in his own time. I've been fortunate enough to attend a lot of great concerts this year, but I don't think that I had goosebumps at any of them as consistently as I did on Monday evening. Both artists were expertly backed by the sublime Middle Eastern-Turkish-Balkan fusion group Lamajamal, whose members' collective proficiency on all manner of exotic instruments was extremely impressive. Sesler was also accompanied during his set by several musicians who I believe also came from Turkey. In short, you missed a hell of show if you weren't there.
GARY KALAR (R) ON CUMBUS & JIM STOYNOFF ON CLARINET(CLICK TO ENLARGE)
OZGUR SUMER ON SAZ (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
RONNIE MALLEY ON OUD (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
ABU AJAMEYEH ON KANUN (L) & GARY KALAR ON TAMBOUR(CLICK TO ENLARGE)
FROM L TO R: GARY KALAR ON GUITAR, JIM STOYNOFF,& RONNIE MALLEY ON ACCORDION (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
FROM L TO R: GARY KALAR, EVE MONZINGO, SELIM SESLER, GEORGELAWLER, JOSEPH SPILBERG, & RONNIE MALLEY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
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Nice to read the review and see the photos.
ReplyDeleteAlso nice to see so many young people playing and listening to music from elsewhere.
I still remember the first time they played this kind of music on KSAN in SF back in the 60s. Opened a whole new world, and experience as a human bean.
Cheers! CM
The saz player is Ozgur Sumer (turkish)and on kanun is Majed Abu Ajameyeh (palestinian).
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing that information.
With appreciation,
RF