Tired of Tin Pan Alley? Ready to let Keith go? Drop your Jazz at the pawnshop?
It’s rare that I recommend an Album of the Week and trumpet its sound quality but today is that day. Which is not to say this lovely music doesn’t come first, which it does, because listening to sound quality is like looking at dry paint.
So Far We Have Come was released on September 21, 2023 by London’s Penny Fiddle Records and as you may have guessed, this is folk music with worldly flavors.
From the liner notes:
So Far We Have Come is the debut duo album from Tamsin Elliott (UK) and Tarek Elazhary (Egypt), two artists who have recognised in each other a commonality in their relationship to music. They are both practitioners and composers deeply embedded in their own living traditions, while also leading genre- bending bands (Solana, Dokkan). Through their friendship and ongoing collaboration they have unearthed a series of intriguing connections between English & Arabic folk idioms, and worked together to weave this affinity into a thrilling fusion of songs, tunes and textures.
And the players:
Tarek Elazhary – Oud, Voice, Field Recordings
Tamsin Elliott – Lever Harp, Piano Accordion, Quartertone Accordion, flute, Voice, Synths, Field Recordings
Archie Churchill – Moss – Guitar
Sam Sweeney – Fiddle
Daniel Gouly – clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Rowan Elliott – Viola, Fiddle
Ricardo do Noronha – Percussion
Leila Sami – Voice
And lovely doesn’t really capture the full scope of wonder to be found inside. Impatient listeners can skip to track 4 “Taqasim Nahawand,” let that bleed into 5, and if you’re anything like me you’ll be in for the entire ride.
