Coll: Festival de Fes--The spirit of fes Le Chant du Monde, 2003
Live music from the 9th ( June 2003) concert of world sacred music held in the city
of Fes in Morocco, these 20 tracks range widely in style and pace, as the only tie is
the intent to transmit heart and spirit and thereby touch the Spiritual essence of all.

Faves: #1: 3, 5, 8, 10 #2: 2, 5, 6, 9 (Dr D 10-04)
(All track titles and times on back of case and on the discs themselves)
CD 1
1.Fast/med, solo vox Yoruban Candomble Brazilian. Syncopated beat, dancey; ends suddenly
2 Slow; spoken intro is beautiful, then meditative Tibetan Buddhist solo vox a cappella
3 Slow, soaring vox (same as 2)
4 Slow, 5-piece Armenian Christian ensemble plus solo vox. Haunting minor almost chanted prayer
5 Slow/med/fast; more from Armenian group. This one shows the Arabic influence—builds intensity
6 Slow, similar to 4. Same group, same almost-Gregorian (albeit solo vox) intonation and delivery
7 Med, Orissan (India) classical temple dance. Starts with solfege, which continues as instruments enter.
The whole very subdued and orchestral, despite the obvious fervor of the solfegist
8 Med/fast, Moroccan women’s vocal ensemble plus percussion. Praise of saints
9 Med, same group, same sound as 8 only this time a cappella until final 40 secs when perc enters.
10 Med/fast, Moroccan women again, more spirited perc, trios and alternating call-and-response in vox
11 Med/fast, American Christian gospel shouters do rousing revival piece designed to move the crowd
CD 2
1 Med/slow, Uzbek Jewish 7-pc ensemble. Solo fem vox shows definite Persian roots of this music known
as shash maqam. The group is US-based, but the music is pure Uzbekistani
2 Med, Uzbek group again. Trance-like phrase repetition, sparse instrumentation, infectious beat, very exotic
3 Med, Syrian Sufi service. This is the ‘whirling dervishes’ music from the cover. Singer is accompanied by
a large group of musicians, singers, and dancers led by a Syrian Jewish zither player.
4 Med/fast, large Senegalese drum troupe, vox chorus. Tribute to Sufi saint in the African brotherhood
5 Slow/med American Indian a cappella trio interpreting various cultural/traditional prayers
6 Med/slow, same as #5 with added rattle percussion, complex interplay among the voices
7 Med/fast, Apache ululations, frame drum, ceremonial dance music invokes the gods
8 Med, Iraqi maqam female singer accompanied by 6-pc ensemble and occasional response from male vox
This modal music is distinguished by its minor keys and the intricate development of the melody
9 Slow/med, same group as #8. This piece is long enough to let the maqam stretch out, various solos,
extended firmas by the singer, overall a crowd-pleaser as one can hear from audience reaction