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Husayn Ismâ'îl al-A'zamî & Ensemble Al-Kindî
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Husayn Ismâ'îl al-A'zamî & Ensemble Al-Kindî · Husayn Ismâ'îl al-A'zamî is a singer from Iraq who performs the classical vocal tradition of his country, the Iraqi maqam. He sings together with Ensemble Al-Kindî, a French group that plays classical Arabic music. The ensemble is named after al-Kindi, the ninth-century Arab philosopher and music theorist.
Music and breakthrough
In Arabic music a maqam is more than a scale. It is a system of melodic rules and moods, within which the musician improvises. In the Iraqi tradition the soloist sings long, ornamented lines to old poems, accompanied by a small ensemble with instruments such as the lute (oud), the zither (qanun) and the violin or flute, and with percussion. The 1994 recording Maqâm Sabâ et pasta follows that model: a freely sung maqam Sabâ, followed by a pasta, a lighter, rhythmic song.
Influence
For the history of pop this music is important because it shows how far melody and improvisation can go without chords. The Arabic mode Sabâ has small intervals that do not exist in the Western system of twelve semitones. Anyone who hears these recordings understands why many pop musicians later began listening to such traditions. Little is documented here about the singer's life.
Listening
Maqâm Sabâ et pasta · Husayn Ismâ'îl al-A'zamî & Ensemble Al-Kindî, 1994