Music that Doesn't Sound the Same

Inspired by Sufi mysticism and love, this song represents the liberation of the soul with a pinch of melancholy. It contains vocals, flutes, strings, oud, and percussion. This music can lead to immense thoughts and inner peace.

Bewildered

Rubab.MP4

buy a copy at www.aroojaftab.bandcamp.com

Dark post-pop meets mystic muse, Arooj Aftab's Bird Under Water undulates and scintillates. A masterful expression of lyrical and acoustic soul tripped out through analog voltage and experimental digital filters.

credits
released March 9, 2015

Bird Under Water 
Written and Produced by Arooj Aftab

Jörn Bielfeldt - Drums/Percussion 
Mario Carrillo - Contra-Bass 
Bhrigu Sahni - Acoustic/Electric Guitar 
Magda Giannikou - Accordion on tracks 2, 3 and 4 
Sonny Singh - Trumpet on tracks 2 and 5 
Baqir Abbas - Bansuri on track 1 
Rakae Jamil - Sitar on track 3

Tracks 2, 3 and 5 co-written with Bhrigu Sahni 
Mixed and Mastered by Jeremy Loucas 
Engineered by Joshua Valleau and Alex Syner 
Album Art by Anum Awan and Yikun Liang

© Arooj Aftab 2015 All rights reserved

01 Man Kunto Maula

Tõnis Mägi & Lea Dali Lion - Sa Haara Kinni Mu Käest

Poem Of Kabir - Maya - Kumar Ghandharva (1)

The Land of Love” was born from a dream  a vision of a place where the heart speaks through music alone. In this land, the guitar becomes a gentle guide, its melody flowing like a river through fields of memory and hope. Every note is a whisper of tenderness, every chord a quiet embrace. It is a journey not to a place on a map, but to a feeling  the timeless and endless space of love

The Land of Love

BHARABI  JUGALBANDI USTAD BISMILLAH KHAN & USTAD VILAYAT KHAN

Sufi Music - Turkish Ney Instrumental - Divine Embrace With Ney

The second single off 'Press' EP featuring These Guy

Written/Recorded by David Versace
Drums by Jasper Gundersen
Drums recorded @ Incremental Studios by Cam Smith 
Mixed and Mastered by Farzan Saif

Original Photograph by Rodrigo Autric
Cover Art by David Versace

Sole Reality (ft. These Guy)

Qais Essar- Rabab, Guitar
Kamaljeet Alhuwalia- Santoor
Justin Gray- Bass Veena
Ray Belli- Drums

The Ghost You Love Most

Hifalutin

baglaens

Ljupka

Šta Je, Tu Je

Raag Bhairavi  Niladri Kumar  Pandit Subhankar Banerjee  Sitar  Tabla  Music Of India

"مقطوعة تليق بغياب طويل"

Beyond The Sky

Your Love Is My Cure' by Brian Keane & Omar Faruk Tekbilek

San Francisco Bay Area based world music ensemble, Stellamara, travels to the Island of Crete and emerges with their new album, "The Golden Thread."  In collaboration with the European legends, Ross Daly and Kelly Thoma, and with NY-based cellist Rufus Cappadocia, "The Golden Thread" is immersed in otherworldly melodies, deep musical meditations, and astonishing improvisations. With her extraordinarily intricate, siren-like voice, Sonja Drakulich carries the listener on a journey into realms of beauty both deeply known and yet undiscovered. "The Golden Thread" travels beyond any derivations or trends in world music, diving deeply into a felt experience of the divine. This is Stellamara's third CD release, and it exceeds all expectations. It is a truly masterful creation.


Each masterful release by Stellamara has appeared years apart, but the treasures and rewards are well worth the wait. Led by the exquisitely gifted singer Sonja Drakulich, with her Hungarian and Serbian ancestry, this group runs on a feverish energy that always stops sufficiently short of frenetic, although they never lack intensity. Right from the start, the virtuoso playing of the members of Stellamara becomes ever-present, while the stellar interplay lends an even greater power to their wonderful web of sound. You'll find yourself wishing for an even stronger vocal emphasis if only because of the magnificent vehicle of vocal expression that Sonja possesses. Her voice is at a never-ending peak of clarity and luminosity, from soft, distant and tailing off into the night, to lively and ignited by fires that burn brightly within. At times she may bring to mind Lisa Gerrard, Loreena McKennit or Azam Ali, but the magnificent way she uses her voice is hers alone. There is no lack of power or presence in this intricately realized music, and those who favor Balkan, Medieval, Persian, Arabic, Greek, Turkish or Far Eastern music will find themselves captured quite easily in the free-flowing marvel that is created. Gari Hegedus has a repertoire that utilizes various Eastern modal systems, and he plays Oud, Baglama, and Mandocello proficiently, taking each passage to a soulful level of modern passion. Cellist Rufus Cappadocia, percussionist Tobias Roberson and clarinet player Peter Jaques join in the sublime magic, moving the music from evocative to inward while driven with a balance that is carefully maintained yet not controlled. Featured as well are two Lyra players (a small pear-shaped upright fiddle from Crete): Irish-born Ross Daly (who also plays Baglama, Divan Saz, Tarbu and African Rebab) and Kelly Thoma (she is also part of the group Labyrinth w/Daly). There is a deeply devotional sense to this music which ebbs and flows from faraway places and times, making for a listening experience that is quite remarkable and unforgettable.

—Lloyd Barde, Common Ground Magazine 


04 Yemen Türküsü

“…a master of the rabab…” – NY Daily News

Qais Essar is a contemporary Afghan composer, instrumentalist and producer who channels his melodic designs through the rabab, a 2,500 year old instrument from Afghanistan. He has toured extensively, sharing his new genre of music nationally and internationally. His first LP, The Green Language (2014), quickly became an Amazon #1 bestseller, followed by  Tavern of Ruin (2016), and his 3rd album, The Ghost You Love Most (2018) to critical acclaim. . He has contributed original music to feature film and television also, composing for 2021’s Oscar-nominated film Three Songs for Benazir.  In 2017, Qais was recruited by director Nora Twomey to compose an original song for her Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated film, The Breadwinner (produced by Angelina Jolie). He earned a Canadian Screen Award for “Best Original Song” for his piece The Crown Sleeps.

The Ghost You Love Most

Qais Essar

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