WESTERN MUSIC, both popular and classical, is haunted by the ghosts of its past. In Islamic Spain in the Middle Ages, Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities intermingled, each with their own distinctive musical cultures that influenced each other. As Western harmony blossomed over the subsequent years, much of that heritage was obscured, and yet it survives today. We can still hear the distinctive Sephardic scale - the "Spanish-Jewish" or "Phrygian dominant" scale, itself probably originally an import from North Africa - in modern klezmer in Eastern Europe and New York. And, though the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, it survives too as a variant in modern Flamenco - Spanish Gypsy music. So too have the asymmetric rhythms of that era - for instance, 9/8 (2+2+2+3) or 7/16 (2+2+3), or even more complex ones - migrated to the Balkans and Eastern Europe, where they form the basis of many popular dances today, in Bulgaria for example. THE MOORS are not trying to re-create the music of the past, or of other cultures. Our ethnic backgrounds are no more or less diverse than any in the British Isles today, but we are not Gypsies; we don't even have much Jewish heritage. What we're trying to do is create our own music, in the present, influenced not only by those remote musics but by more variegated elements: rock, blues, jazz, even Cuban son, free improvisation and English folk music. We hope you can dance to it: in your head as well as in your body. We have been inspired by the musical culture of Hastings Old Town. |
When I was young & full of passion - a song by Ken, who takes the vocals here. Der Heyser Bulgar - traditional Klezmer tune, the title meaning "the hot Bulgarian dance" - taken at a furious lick. Si Verías – this melody from mediaeval Spain, with a 9/8 North African rhythm, was originally found on the album Sephardic Romances (Thomas Wimmer/Accentus Ensemble). Evening Dance - also Bulgarian, a gypsy tune. We found it in a version by Lubo Alexandrov. Shadow - a tune with a Phrygian mode jazz feel, composed by Elaine, who plays the flute solo. Little Shears - another Klezmer tune, with Elaine (sop sax) and Jenny (fiddle) intertwining the melodies. |
