What the waves brought - Hamasyan like :) 

You are listening to the collected music during six months journey in Egypt. The music is found on vinyls, online collections, arabic music foundation, and people that were willing to share their private collections for their home, car or bar. It is very common for people to do that, like back in the days when I was making cd compilations with my sister. 

Thank you Salama, Mohammad, Mosalem from Siwa and Mustafa Said for opening the doors to a special musical journey. Big thanks to all the taxi drivers as well. 

Special thanks to @simualex for keeping up with me during the trip and collecting music together <3

Please share and enjoy it! Imagine having a ride in the desert listening to it. Much love!

HOMEMADE SESSION Vol. 3

This is our very first episode, from back in 2006. It was one of the first serious shows attempted on Simply Syndicated, after Movies You Should See. Make It So is still running today, and preparations for Season 4, are almost close to sometime perhaps being thought about. 

If you'd like to catch up on any of the episodes we've made over the last nine years, visit http://www.simplysyndicated.com/shows/makeitso where you'll find all episodes available for 99p or as part of a Simply Everything subscription.

If you like our show, please don't forget to hit the Like or Repost buttons. 

Make It So

Make It So Ep. 1 - The Best Film

Jam Session at Part-up Community Day (18th April 2016)

Part-up Sounds

بتغني لمين

Alex Simu Quintet live at the Bimhuis Amsterdam
ECHOES OF BUCHAREST
"Armenian Street"

Alex Simu – clarinets (Romania)
Franz von Chossy – piano (Germany)
George Dumitriu – violin/viola/guitar (Romania)
Jörg Brinkmann – cello (Germany)
Kristijan Krajnčan – drums/cello (Slovenia)


Marc Schots - live sound and live recording 
Ivana Dukic - graphic design
Raluca Baicu - production manager

Filming crew:
Corneliu Ganea
John Aponno
Joao M B Costa


The Armenian Street, Bucharest
At the heart of the city, Bucharest, there is a street with a history of itself. A place where culture, religion, spirituality, breath-taking stories, beautiful architecture, and people who changed history come together. The inspirational aura of the street was given by the Armenian people and their culture – a subtle, yet significant part of the heritage of Bucharest. This is how my story with the Armenian street begins, strengthen by the love for the Armenian culture.

It all connected onto a much deeper and personal level when I started playing saxophone. The trigger produced when I heard Garbis Dedeian playing a tribute concert to John Coltrane, back in 1999. Garbis and his brother Capril, are two very important figures of the Romanian jazz scene. Only 18 years old, I was spending my time going to Garbis’ concerts, and slowly, as the months where passing by, I was able to sit in with his band and learn the magic of playing jazz music. At the time, I was told he is Armenian. However, even though late ’90s, the echoes of the communism era where still very strong, resonating in the existence of the people and inspiring fear to anyone who would talk of any other ethnic origins than Romanian. This was an eye-opening moment, and the start of many discoveries. I explored the drawings of Cik Damadian, the paintings of Theodor Aman, the books of Varujan Vosganian, and much more that was yet to come.

Studying in the Netherlands later on was very resourceful: I had access to internet and the great public library of Amsterdam; I started listening to Armenian music of all sorts, reading about the history, the amazing and unique music system, and how it all enriched the culture of the Ottoman Empire and all the surrounding lands. I had Duduk lessons with Gevorg Dabaghian, an experience towards understanding how love for the music is an important element in creating a beautiful sound – if not played with care, the Duduk sounds very unpleasant. This entire journey became even more intense when I heard and met Tigran Hamasyan, the Armenian jazz pianist, who introduced a new world of contemporary sounds.
 When traveling in faraway corners of the world, people would ask me where am I from, and I would answer that I am Romanian. Then they would say, Armenian? And I would answer, well, no, Romanian. My answer would then create confusion. Perhaps due to my strange accent or maybe because those people never heard of Romania. This sometimes made me think for a second, maybe I am Armenian, or Aromanian, or meant-to-be Romanian.  Now, looking back on the times I occasionally walked on the Armenian Street in Bucharest, I wonder, how could I have known this street’s history goes so far, way beyond my imagination? I wrote this composition to express my gratitude towards the beautiful Armenian heritage, and to send out an invitation to everyone to visit Bucharest and take a walk down the Armenian street. It is an experience of understanding and reflection upon how much we can benefit from living together, from sharing and learning from each other.

Alex Simu Quintet Armenian Street Live at the Bimhuis Amsterdam

Performed in a solo concert at Bimhuis, Amsterdam  27.11.2017

Bimhuis solo viola Lush Life

Track from the new ICP Records release Icarus (ICP059). 

Available from
Physical: http://www.subdist.com/cart/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=442
iTunes:   https://itunes.apple.com/bs/album/icarus/1403681701
Spotify:   https://open.spotify.com/user/erkwil/playlist/7JIrESFjJjE42RdkUkYdxs

Recorded by Marc Schots and Mathijn den Duijf at Studio Kytopia in Utrecht on April 9th & 10th 2018, using a Studer A80 1/2” 2-track tape machine. Artwork by Han Bennink. Graphic design by Emma Fischer. Photo artwork by Pieter Boersma. 

www.jorisroelofs.com
www.hanbennink.com
www.icporchestra.com

Joris Roelofs + Han Bennink: The Old Wig.

Clarientopia is based in Amsterdam and it is the first clarinet quartet using the SATB setup. 
Cioaka Haram - Soprano Clarinet Bb 
Abdulex Girnata - Alto Clarinet G 
Alap Slmr - Tenor Clarinet Eb 
Chamo Cinco - Bass Clarinet Bb

"Clarinetopia" composed, arranged and conducted by Alex Simu, Amsterdam 2012. 
www.alexsimu.com

Clarinetopia

Alex Simu is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer. Born in Romania, Simu followed a music education from a young age. In pursue of an international music career, he moved to the Netherlands at age 22, where he began his studies at the Prins Claus Conservatory in Groningen, obtaining a Bachelors degree in Jazz Saxophone, followed by a Masters degree from the Amsterdam Conservatory. In 2007 he received an HSP Huygens scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 2008 he was awarded the First Prize of the Utrecht Holland Casino Jazz Contest. The same year he won first prize of the Dutch Jazz Competition at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, and in 2009 was awarded with the EBU jazz scholarship, and became a member of the European Jazz Orchestra for the project Swinging Europe lead by Peter Herbolzheimer.  After completing his studies, Alex Simu co-founded the Dutch-based quartet Arifa. Their debut album Beyond Babylon was released in 2010, followed by Anatolian Alchemy in 2012. Both albums were awarded the Best World Music Release of the year in the Netherlands, and distinguished with 5 stars by various publications. In 2017, Alex Simu released Echoes of Bucharest, his debut album as a band leader together with his quintet. The release at Bimhuis in Amsterdam was highly received by the national press:
 “Adventurous and stunningly beautiful. How much it was shared with the audience was evident from the daunting discharge after the end of the first set: an applause eruption that lasted so long that it seemed almost as if the final was reached." – Ton Maas, MixedWorldMusic  “Alex Simu shows his versatility and sense of beauty by playing clarinet in a style that unites his native city of Bucharest and his current city of Amsterdam. From a completely integral attitude, the quintet made the Balkan songs with their melancholy and beautiful melodies. Amsterdam seemed a little like Bucharest tonight." – Het Parool ****  Also a film music composer, Alex Simu has worked since 2010 on a great number of award-winning international film productions. In 2016, he was awarded with the Golden Calf  by the Dutch Film Academy for the Best Music of Beyond Sleep.  Since 2015, Simu is Head and Professor of clarinet within the jazz and world music departments of the Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam. He is active in the field of organology and clarinet synthesis, and has innovated the tenor clarinet, as well as brought into contemporary use the alto clarinet, clarinet d’amour, and the bass clarinet d’amour.  Active on the jazz and world music scene since 1999, Alex Simu performed and toured professionally in 41 countries over 5 continents, and shared the stage with important figures such as Alvin Queen, Brian Lynch, Benny Golson, Bennie Wallace, Peter Herbolzheimer, Mari Boine, Jorge Reyes, Naseer Shamma, Ghalia Benali, Aynur Dogan, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, and many others.

Alex Simu Quintet Armenian Street Live at the Bimhuis Amsterdam

Alex Simu

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