The Rough Guide to the Music of Central Asia is an outstanding example of what the Rough Guides do best: focus on the roots-related music of a specific region, and illustrate through judicious selection and juxtaposition the way musicians in that region are melding traditional and modern influences. In this case, the region is the “Stans” of the former Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The selections here range from the utterly traditional to the thoroughly modern.
In the former camp, the best examples include Yagmyr Nurgeldyev (Turkmenistan) with a solo piece on the two-stringed dutar; an instrumental tour-de-force by Abdorahman Nurak, who could be called the Kyrgyz Richard Thompson for the way he stretches the possibility of the three-stringed komuz lute; and a masterful piece featuring the wooden jew’s harp by the Kambarkan Folk Ensemble of Kyrgyzstan.
The absolute best of the modern cuts is the album’s opening track, “Adai,” an instrumental workout by the Kazakh folk-rockers Ulytau, who sound as though they’ve been listening to early Fairport Convention (and maybe some Mahavishnu Orchestra) — hot fiddle and rock drums, with electric guitars and the traditional long-necked dombra lute. Uzbek pop singer Sevara Nazarkhan sings a contemporary version of a traditional song, backed by her band and featuring the bowed sato lute. I’m no judge of rap, American or any other kind, so I can’t really judge the Tajik rap (in English) of Nobovar & Shams Group, although I do enjoy the non-rapped portions of their track, based on a Pamir folk tune. Some hot fiddling here too, plus electric guitar and frantic percussion. The Kazakh musician Edil Husainov ends this collection with a fascinating tour through central Asian styles and instruments, beginning with the jew’s harp, taking a stop in Mongolian-style overtone singing, the okarina, flute and zither, with keyboards, drums, bass and electric guitar added to the mix — a bit of shamanistic dance-hall. The Tajik duo Farzin do something similar with a traditional folk tune, putting a modern beat behind it, and featuring accordion in addition to electric bass and guitar.
Readers of Songlines, the English world music magazine, will no doubt recognize the voice behind the liner notes as that of Simon Broughton, who also oversaw the selections on this compilation. And a fine job he and all involved did.
(World Music Network, 2005)
