Zyryab Jazz quartet

Music from the Middle East and New Sufi music The Ziryab duo brings together Aykut Dursen, internationally trained cellist as well as co-soloist at the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra and traditional Turkish performer and Riad Abdel-Abdel-Gawad, violinist, composer trained at Harvard University and who was in Cairo for ten years student, friend and transcriber of Abdo Dagher whose New Sufi Music they interpret. They can be accompanied by the percussionist of Hungarian origin, specialist in darbouka, riqq and bendir, Peter Borcsok and form the Ziryab Trio. Finally, when they play with the pianist Samir Bendimered they form the Ziryab Quartet whose repertoire and this once adapted into jazz. They also present recent original compositions by Riad Abdel-Gawad and others from the albums: El Tarab El Aseel, Egypt, Mother of the World and Words of Peace as well as traditional compositions of the late 19th and early 20th century Ottoman musical era according to the Arab-Egyptian style tuning and interpretation whose taqaseem or melodic improvisation influenced by the sacred Egyptian Sufi song called ibtihalat.

* Ziryâb («Black Bird») was an exceptional singer and musician at the court of Baghdad whom he left for Andalusia. Thus in 822, in Cordoba, he created the first conservatory of music and introduced the oud. He was at the origin of Arab-Andalusian music and revolutionized the art of living.