Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and the Rajasthan Express – Junun (Nonesuch, 2015)
Junun is a spectacular two-disc album that brings together Indian musical traditions, Sufi and Jewish spirituality and western music elements. Israeli musician and composer Shye Ben Tzur collaborated with Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood (England), and the Rajasthan Express, a group of Indian musicians that provide the vibrant brass band and percussion sections as well as mesmerizing Qawwali vocals.
The album was recorded in early 2015 in an improvised studio inside the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, India. Shye Ben Tzur composed the music and used. The lyrics include traditional Sufi poems and original verses by Shye Ben Tzur. The vocals are in Urdu and Hebrew.
American independent filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson made a film also titled Junun that documents the recording sessions as well as the close friendship of artistic collaboration. The impressionistic film debuted at the New York Film Festival in October 2015.
Shye Ben Tzur lives in India and Israel. He composes qawwalis in Hebrew, Urdu, and Hindi. A concert by Indian maestros Zakir Hussain and Hariprasad Chaurasia that Ben Tzur attended as a young man was life-changing. “It touched my heart so deeply,” he says. “It was at the time the deepest musical experience I had gone through. It moved me so that I could do nothing but go find out what it is. I feel I’m still in that spot. I don’t think I have achieved it. Indian music is so vast and so deep and the more I learn different things about it, I realize how ignorant I was. It just doesn’t stop.”
The Junun lineup includes Shye Ben Tzur on vocals, guitar, flute; Jonny Greenwood on guitar, bass, drum machine, computers, ondes martenot and keyboard; Aamir Bhiyani on lead trumpet; Hazmat on tuba; Ajaj Damami on trombone; Sabir Damami on tuba; Soheb Bhiyani on trumpet; Bhanwaru Khan on tuba, Zaki Ali Qawwal on Qawwali vocals; Zakir Ali Qawwal on Qawwali vocals, harmonium; Gufran Ali and Shazib Ali on Qawwali chorus; Ehtisham Khan Ajmeri on Qawwali chorus, dholak (a small double-ended barrel-shaped drum); Chugge Khan on khartal (a type of castanet made of rectangular wooden blocks), bhapang (a one-stringed talking drum), manjira (tiny cymbals); Nihal Khan on dholak; Nathu Lal Solanki and Narsi Lal Solanki on nagara (kettle drum); Asin Khan on sarangi and vocals; Dara Khan on kamaicha (vertically held string instrument); Afshana Khan on vocals; and Razia Sultan on vocals.
Junun is an impressive world music recording featuring splendid timelessly crafted Qawwal devotional songs enriched by a lavish and imaginative production.
Buy Junun
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.
