Crescent Moon

Omar Faruk Tekbilek

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 24, 1998)
• Original Release Date: December 8, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Celestial Harmonies
• ASIN: B00000DHIU
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #141,751 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > Middle East > Turkey

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Middle Eastern multi-instrumentalist Omar Tekbilek gets solo billing for Crescent Moon even though it is produced by longtime collaborator and keyboardist Brian Keane. Keane also contributes as a musician, along with fellow synthesizer player Steve Roach and several other more-acoustic performers, but the overall sound is close to Tekbilek's roots and traditions. With a couple of exceptions (notably "Salute to the Sun," a heartfelt ambient piece with some vocals from Tekbilek), the 10 cuts are upbeat acoustic exercises using percussion and string and woodwind instruments in traditional settings, with just the slightest hint of electronic washes in the production. Not that the music needs any bolstering; it is sonic enough in its own right. With Crescent Moon, the ancient symbol of the Ottoman Empire and Islam, Tekbilek builds on his reputation as a master musician of great integrity who is interpreting ancient music for today's audience. The liner notes could be a little more informative about the musicians and the recording. --Derek Rath

Product Description

Crescent Moon is a bewitching blend of Western and Near Eastern sounds. Don't be misled by the presence of synthesizer wizard Steve Roach, or keyboardist/guitarist Brian Keane, or the guest appearance by the rollicking Bulgarian saxophonist Yuri Yunakov - this is an album with clear and deep roots in the ancient legacy of Turkey and Arabian music. In fact, six of the ten tracks are Faruk's arrangements of traditional folk and classical songs from the Arab, Turkish, and Armenian traditions.

Tekbilek's newest project also draws on the sounds of Azerbaijani folksong, Persian mysticism, and classical Arabian belly dancing. He even pays tribute, on the song Yalel, to the famed Egyptian singer Omm Kulthum. (Tekbilek himself is half Egyptian.) Working with many of the same musicians who have made such distinctive contributions to Tekbilek's earlier albums, he creates a kind of global music - a music that acknowledges Greek, Indian, and of course Turkish music, and attempts to find a common ground between all of these. Perhaps his greatest achievement on Crescent Moon is that the album is more than the sum of its parts: it consistently evokes the ecstatic trance of the Sufi dervishes, the biting winds of the desert at night, the rich and exotic scents of an Oriental market, and yet it does so without clearly staying in any one musical tradition.

Much of Crescent Moon is deeply personal. Yunnus is a medley of four Sufi tunes, and reflects his longtime practice of this mystical branch of Islam. Adanali is the name both of a folksong and of the town where Tekbilek was born. The album itself was released as Tekbilek marked his 47th birthday - and he reports that both the numbers 4 and 7 have had recurring significance throughout his life. (He has 7 brothers; he was fourth in line; the street address of the house he grew up in was 47; and Crescent Moon is the fourth album he has made with longtime colleagues Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Ara Dinkjian, and Hasan Isikkut.) Ironically, this most personal recording is also easily accessible to Western listeners. By following his own spiritual impulses, and by ignoring geographic and cultural boundaries, Tekbilek has forged a pan-Middle Eastern music. Crescent Moon is at once contemplative and exciting, full of lively rhythms and lovely melodies - timeless, and yet very much of our time.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fresh approach to tradition, February 9, 1999

By A Customer

Like "Mystical Garden," this CD is just about perfect. Most of the material is firmly based in tradition, but it's given a stellar performance by virtuoso (and fabulously creative) musicians. The electronics are used to enhance rather than drown the acoustic instrumentation, and the only synthesizer-based piece, "Salute to the Sun," is stylistically akin to Middle Eastern vocal music. Also, the CD is nicely balanced between the spiritual, the sensual, and the downright funky (like "Tamzara"). It's a thorough pleasure to listen to, and if you're a dancer it'll have you up and moving within thirty seconds (well, it did me!). My only complaint is that there isn't a list of who's playing what instrument for each track, or any explanation of the songs themselves: I enjoy music more if I know something about its background, and I'm still a beginner where Middle Eastern music is concerned. (And why, oh why, isn't there a list of songs on the back cover of the CD? This is true of every Celestial Harmonies CD I own, and I find it highly annoying to have to pull out and unfold the booklet to find the song I want. Get with it, folks!!) Other than these minor quibbles, I enjoy this CD thoroughly, and I know it's one I'll listen to often.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A peak example of 'celestial' music rooted in the tradition, February 6, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

Tekbilek brings out again the best of traditional Islamic-Turkish music. With his extraordinary ability of interpretation and mastery on ney, saz and drums, among other instruments, he never betrays the traditional form while, at the same time, blowing a new spirit into it. In addition to the masterly performance of traditional instruments, Briane Keane is also to be congratulated for his 'behind-the-closed-doors' contribution.

In this albume, baglama (or saz, a lute instrument of Turkish folk music) makes its presence felt in tracks 1 and especially 5, 'Baglama Delight' which is no less sweeter than the Turkish delight!

Hasan Isikkut, the kanun player of the group, has given another example of celestial music in track 7 to which you can listen almost endlessly.

If you know Tekbilek, you will not be diasppointed.

I. Kalin.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faruk RULES!, July 17, 2000

By	Nirvana (Sarasota, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

....if I may be so cliche! He just gets better, and this CD is for ANY collection of ethnic music. Frame drum,doumbek and nay; just to name a few of the instruments played (superbly).....Don't like the nay? This will even please sensitive, western ears. Dancers will find that unusually sensual and 'something special' to dance to. This CD will hold any fan of Mr. Tekbilek until the next one comes!