Karavan Sarai
Woven Landscapes (Narayan Sijan, 2015)
Woven Landscapes is an independent release by a project called Karavan Sarai developed by American musical explorer and world traveler Narayan Sijan. The album contains mesmerizing original music pieces inspired by Sufi music and the musical traditions of Turkey, Central Asia and India. Sijan’s musical voyage follows the ancient Silk Road that connected these regions. Sijan lived in India, Nepal, Egypt, Turkey and other countries where he learned music from the masters.
“When I was in India I learned quite a few traditional songs from gypsies in Rajasthan,” Sijan explains. “I spent two weeks with them at a festival in the Thar desert. A few years later when I was in Turkey I heard someone singing a piece with almost the same melody, just changed a little by the culture. That was a real inspiration to me, I realized how music can bridge time and distance.”
Woven Landscapes features chants by Sijan and a wide range of string instruments from Turkey, Iran, and other parts of the Middle East that are part of the lute family: oud, saz, buzuk, setar, baglama, kopuz, and saz.
Throughout Karavan Sarai, Sijan is joined by American percussionist and keyboardist Carmen Rizzo who is well known for his work in world music, pop, rock and global fusion recordings.
By using such a wide-ranging palette of musical instruments, the album is diverse and charming, featuring meditative pieces as well as uptempo virtuosic performances, providing a mix of acoustic pieces and tunes with ambient keyboard environments.
Purchase Woven Landscapes
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
