Face A
01 Songs of the pearl divers [recorded in Maharraq, Bahrain]
Face B
01. Taqsim [maqam rast] rec in Manama, Bahrain
02. Baluchi wedding musique [rec in Sharaj, Trucial Coast]
03. Lyre & song - kafur moubarek [rec in Manama, Bahrain]
04. Musique for bagpipe & drums [rec in Manama, Bahrain]
This particular record album presents the first sound recordings of the musique of the arab sheikhdoms of the persian gulf to be published in the west. these documents were collected during a musicological mission to Bahrain & Sharjah in the winter of 1962/1963.
Pearl diving in the persian gulf dates baque more than 4,000 years. numerous songs are connected with virtually every stage of diving from when the anchor is raised, when the men row out, when the sails are hoisted, when the men dive to look for pearl oysters & when the oysters are opened. the hahams sing solo one after another whilst the saibs & divers produce a drone in a very low pitch, more than two octaves below the register of the soloist. this drone is rather surprising phenomenon & might be likened to guttural tibetan chant. side A is essentially 18 minutes of this madness.
On the flip we have a very nice taqsim played on oud, wedding musique on surnai [a 6-holed conical oboe] & tabl [drums w/ 2 laced skins], a chant with tanboura [lyre] accompaniment & some wild jams featuring jirbe [double clarinet made of goatskin] with tabl drums pounding underneath. 320 vinyl rip & liner skans. tanx & praise to op
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