Lavish World of Middle Eastern Flavors

Niyaz

Fourth Light (Six Degrees Records, 2015)

Dipping into a dense world filled with the strains of oud, santur and rabab, labyrinthine rhythms, delicious electronica and vocals that sound like lovely pleas, it is easy to fall victim to Fourth Light by the group Niyaz out on the Six Degrees label. With recordings like the 2006 release Niyaz, the 2008 double CD offering Nine Heavens and the 2012 release Sumud, Niyaz continues to enthrall listener with their heady Middle Eastern flavors. With a kaleidoscope of intricate percussion, electronica and soaring vocals, Fourth Light is hypnotic and powerful.

Vocalist and musician Azam Ali, with recordings Portals of Grace (2002) and Elysium for the Brave (2006) to her credit, and collaborations with Niyaz on From Night to the Edge of Day (2011) and Lamentations of Swans: A Journey Toward Silence (2013) takes on a special role beyond lead vocalist and musician for Fourth Light as co-composer and co-producer with Niyaz’s Loga R. Torkian. Taking on the fitting out Fourth Light with programming all the beats, Ms. Ali proves to be a force behind Fourth Light’s arresting sound and that’s beyond the lushness of her vocals, santur playing and frame drumming she provides for the recording.

Co-producer, co-composer and co-arranger Loga R. Torkian provides kamaan, oud, guitar viol, rabab, saz and keyboards. Filling out Fourth Light’s sound is Gabriel Ethier on keyboards and additional programming; Sinan Cem Eroglu on kaval, fretless guitar, guitar, e-bow, kopuz and baglama; Omer Avci on bendirs, brushes, riqq, aski davul, cajon, bidon, tepsi, pumpkin drums and gazete and Didem Basar on kanun.

If that weren’t enough Niyaz packs their sound with guest musicians Satanam S. Ramgotra on tabla, Kattam Laraki Cote and Habib Meftah Bousheri on percussion, Aditya Verma on sarod and Reza Abaee on gheychak, adding to the utter richness and heavy texture to the music. Fourth Light gets the added bonus of being mixed by Grammy nominated producer/electronic musician Damian Taylor of Bjork, The Killers and Arcade Fire recordings.

Dedicated to and inspired by Rabia Al Basri, the first female Sufi poet and mystic, Fourth Light adds weight to the social consciousness of Niyaz and to Ms. Al Basri’s concept of “Divine Love,” cementing in her role in Sufi Mysticism. Fans get a taste of Ms. Al Basri’s work through tracks like “Tam e Eshq,” “Man Haramam” and “Marg e Man.”

Ms. Ali notes, “Rabia’s struggles even in the 8th century remain quite relevant to our time, when women continue to strive to rise above the status of inferiority placed upon them by many patriarchal societies around the world.”

Dipping into traditional folk songs and the poetry of Eastern mystics, Niyaz pools a collection from Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan on which they based their music and advance their sense of social justice in the face of continuing oppression and to serve as a bridge between East and West.

 

 

Fans should check out the startlingly lovely “Tam e Eshq” or “The Taste of Love,” as well as the richness of “Eyvallah Shahim” or “Truth from the Alevi-Bektashi tradition in Turkey,” “Yek Nazar” or “A Single Glance” and “Man Haramam” or “I Am A Sin.” Drenched in Middle Eastern tradition, draped with achingly lovely vocals and ripe with electronica, Fourth Light makes the most of that bridge of the ancient and the modern. “Aurat” or “Woman,” “Shir Ali Mardan” or “Song of a Warrior” and “Marg e Man” or “My Elegy” make that bridge easier to cross.

“It’s a daring task to try and bridge the chasm between peoples,” says Ms. Ali, “but if we can make that happen, even for the moments when people listen to our music, then who’s to say we did not triumph in our goal?”

Buy Fourth Light