The unique Berlin based band fronted by charismatic German-Iranian singer Cymin Samawatie may be the only Western jazz ensemble performing ballads with lyrics in Farsi. Last time around, on the widely-praised “As Ney”, Cymin included classic Persian verse by Rumi as well as 20th century Iranian poetry. On “Saburi” (it means “Patience”) she draws on her own poetic resources and her lyrics of love and vulnerability set the tone for the melodic improvisations of her band.
Saburi
Cyminology
- 1Sibaai
05:18 - 2Saburi
05:27 - 3Shakibaai
04:57 - 4Norma
06:20 - 5As maa
08:51 - 6Nemibinam
05:41 - 7Hedije
05:44 - 8Hawaa
07:11
…ist einmal mehr eine wundervolle Reise in eine leise Musik, die zwischendurch aber doch auch mal aufzuschäumen weiß. Aber es ist zumeist Musik die sehr auf Atmosphäre setzt und dabei die Grenzen zwischen Jazz und Kammermusik fließend lässt.
Christoph Giese, Jazzthetik
Ihre Musik überzeugt durch Innigkeit, Anmut und unangestrengten Ernst. Sie spricht zu uns aus einer versunkenen Zeit, die keine Angst vor großen Gefühlen kannte und in der Kultur noch anders sah als Zitat und Parodie.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag
Es gibt innerhalb der Band eine Kommunikation der Stille, in denen die Pausen und die leisen Übergänge von ebensolcher Bedeutung sind wie die kurzen, manchmal nur wenige Sekunden anhaltenden Explosionen. […] Das Besondere an der Musik von Cyminology ist, dass sie sich aus scheinbaren Gegensätzen speist: Aus Altem und Neuen, aus Spannung und Harmonie, aus Disziplin und Freiheit, aus Freude und Melancholie.
Jörg Konrad, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Hier begegnen sich Kunstlied und moderner, kontemplativer Kammerjazz.
Berthold Klostermann, Stereo
Persien, das ist der eine Pol, den die Sängerin Samawatie anspricht: mit den Texten, die sie in den weichen Klängen der Muttersprache geschrieben hat, und mit den verhangenen Melodien, die viel Melancholie ausdrücken, vielleicht gar Wut. […] Unter Spannung gehalten wird die melancholie durch kantige Harmonisierungen, in ungeraden Metren pulsierende Rhythmen und durch die raffinierte Interaktion. Jeder Musiker scheint genau zu wissen, in welche Richtung sich der andere bewegt. „Saburi“ zeigt Cyminology als vielsprachiges Quartett, das die Spannung zwischen den idiomen zum Vibrieren bringt.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
L’ensemble propose des paysages sonores, à la fois minimalistes et orchestraux, où les instrumentistes prennent autant de place que la vocaliste. […] Grâce à Cymin, le monde va enfin découvrir la touche persane, si unique et raffinée, acclimatée musicalement et surtout vocalement au jazz. La sonorité perse se montre rafraîchissante et, sans forcer, dotée d’un swing authentique.
Sir Ali, So Jazz
Bei Cyminology findet alte östliche Weisheit und neue westliche Innerlichkeit auf berückende Weise zusammen. Dabei spielt der Klang der Sprache als magisches Wort eine entscheidende Rolle. […] Wie schon zuvor verzaubert Cyminology mit einer tief ernsthaften und dabei gelassenen Natürlichkeit. Nichts wirkt aufgesetzt, die klare, warmtönende Stimme ist ganz integrierter Bestandteil einer Musik, die stark von Ostinati-Elementen geprägt ist und sich dabei mit raffinierter Dynamik und ausdrucksstarker rhythmischer Komplexität zu magischem Gestus steigert; etwas von dem scheint auf, was einst Albert Camus mit dem Paradoxon kommentierte : „… nichts hat sich verändert und doch ist alles auf wunderbare Weise neu und überwunden.“
Thomas Flitterling, Rondo Online
Cymin Samawatie erfand eine neue Formel: Vokaler Kammerjazz mit persischer Lyrik. Seelenvoll dunkel tönt ihre Stimme, unverkennbar orientalisch gefärbt. Raffiniert sparsam legt das Trio dazu Klangflächen auf dem fünften Album „Saburi“ (ECM) aus, spinnt filigrane Linien, wie schon auf dem Vorgängeralbum „As Ney“.
Ludwig Jurgeit, Jazzpodium
Un polittico dalla struttura e metrica complessa, che prende a calci la noia. A momenti di tensione emotiva, scatenata dal serrato dialogo tra batteria e contrabbasso (Saburi), fanno da contraltare sonorità cesellate attorno a movimenti mediorientali (Shakibaai, Norma) in un continuo intersecarsi di microcosmi musicali che richiamano un unico èpos.
Ayroldi, Musica Jazz
Die drei Herren, verantwortlich für die Arbeit an Klavier, Bass und Schlagzeug, sind mit ihrem federleichten, meditativen, noch die kleinsten Räume zwischen den Tönen mit feinsten Klangfarben ausleuchtenden Zeitlupenjazz allein schon ein Erlebnis. Dazu der Gesang von Cymin Samawatie, ein mal verspielter, dann wieder sanft und dunkel timbrierter Vokalzauber in einer Sprache, die auch nach mehrmaligen genauem Hinhören so faszinierend wie fremd klingt. Das Zusammenspiel von Sängerin Cymin Samawatie und dem Pianisten Benedikt Jahnel ist noch subtiler und feingliedriger, ein oft fast schon hauchzart-zerbrechliches Klanggespinst, das Bassist Ralf Schwarz und Schlagzeuger Ketan Bhatti mit feinen Akzenten noch farbenfroher gestalten. Acht Titel, die ein Album ergeben, in das man mit jedem Hören tiefer und tiefer und immer tiefer eintauchen kann.
Dirk Becker, Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten
“In the music of the intriguing world jazz project known as Cyminology, contemplative jazz and chamber-esque qualities converge in a distinctive admix of influences, from Persian, European and even residual Brazilian musical languages …Samawatie wends her vocal parts through the alternately open and intricate compositional designs of the music. While the well-worn phrase ‘multicultural’ springs to mind, so does the phrase ‘self-defining poetic logic’.” Josef Woodard, JazzTimes
The second ECM album from Berlin-based band Cyminology, recorded likes its predecessor in Oslo, with Manfred Eicher producing, takes further the modus operandi outlined on the critically-acclaimed “As Ney”, and shows a growth of musical confidence on all fronts. Interaction inside the band is increasingly dynamic. Cymin Samawatie continues to write most of the band’s material, and on the present showing, pianist Benedikt Jahnel, drummer Ketan Bhatti and bassist Ralf Schwarz are finding new freedoms inside the structures. Bhatti and Jahnel also bring their own compositions into the band; for the drummer this is a new development. “Ketan’s writing is very open”, says Cymin, “and that allows for a lot of improvisational input from everybody. Benedikt’s pieces are often more detailed in their arrangement. For me their contribution as composers is a real enrichment for the band as a whole. Offering different colours, but working within the special character of the group.”
Where, last time around, singer Cymin Samawatie drew on classic Persian poetry (Rumi, Hafez), for some of her texts, this time the lyrics are all hers. Realities of life in Iran, observed at a distance, influenced some of the writing – in particular “Shakibaai” and the title track “Saburi”. Originally written for Cymin’s performance at the 2009 Morgenland Festival in Osnabrück, these are songs shaped at a time when Ahmadinejad’s security forces were suppressing post-election protests on the streets of Tehran, and there is exasperation in the song-texts, as well as a kind of bitter stoicism. (“Saburi” translates as “patience”, “Shakibaai” as “endurance”).
Samawatie: “I’ve never wanted Cyminology to be a ‘political’ band, but I am Iranian and affected by what’s happening. I look at the situation and acknowledge there is little I can do about it. I would like to say something and I can’t, I would like to do something and I can’t. I have to admit that there is a lot of emotion happening inside myself. I can’t be there, but I’m watching from here. The song ‘Shakibaai’ touches on this aspect, too. It can be very painful to be on the outside looking in, but will weeping about it in Germany help anyone in Iran?”
Interspersed throughout the CD booklet, and implying a range of moods, by no means all troubled, are photos Cymin Samawatie took in Tehran during her last visit there some two years ago. Born to Iranian parents in Braunschweig, Germany, in 1976, she was raised bilingually, and as a child spent part of each year in Iran.
The multicultural aggregation that is Cyminology could perhaps only have been formed in Berlin. Pianist Benedikt Jahnel, born 1980 in France, grew up near Munich, moving to Berlin in 2000. His teachers have included John Taylor, Richie Beirach and Kenny Werner. He has toured with leading international musicians including Charlie Mariano and Phil Woods, and is active also with his own trio.
Percussionist Ketan Bhatti, born in New Delhi, India in 1981, grew up in Bielefeld. Touring as a drummer since he was 14, he has been active in projects from reggae and hip-hop to jazz as both musician and producer, and also writes music for theatre productions.
Bassist Ralf Schwarz, born in 1971, grew up, like Cymin, in Braunschweig, and played organ and guitar before switching to double-bass and electric bass a decade ago. Through lessons and workshops with jazz masters like Ron Carter, Steve Coleman, Mark Dresser, Mark Helias, Richie Beirach and Billy Hart he has had the opportunity to refine and develop his skills.
Cymin Samawatie’s idea of making the Persian language a focus of her work was first developed while she was studying at Berlin’s Hochschule der Kunst, where teacher Jerry Granelli encouraged her to set Persian poetry to non-traditional arrangements, and now the sound of the language itself, its softness and suppleness, is a shaping force in the music.
But not always. “Saburi” also includes pieces that break the pattern. On the tune “Norma”, Cymin offers wordless tribute to singer Norma Winstone, whose natural unaffected vocals on the ECM album “Distances” have been a recent inspiration. “Sometimes you hear something great and you just want to give something back, to make something in similar spirit. That was the story of my piece for Norma”. Cyminology played opposite Winstone’s trio at an ECM concert series at London’s King’s Place early in 2009. In the wake of “As Ney” the group, always intrepid travellers, have toured very widely, with concerts from Rangoon to Washington D.C.
“Saburi” is launched with a February/March tour in Germany and Austria. Dates include concerts in Munich, Vienna, Stuttgart, Osnabrück, and Mannheim. Prior to the tour there will be a release concert at Berlin’s A-Trane Club on January 19, 2011. For full tour details consult the web site www.ecmrecords.com and also Cyminology’s site www.cyminology.de.
The second ECM album from Berlin-based band Cyminology, recorded likes its predecessor in Oslo, with Manfred Eicher producing, takes further the modus operandi outlined on the critically-acclaimed “As Ney”, and shows a growth of musical confidence on all fronts. Interaction inside the band is increasingly dynamic. Cymin Samawatie continues to write most of the band’s material, and on the present showing, pianist Benedikt Jahnel, drummer Ketan Bhatti and bassist Ralf Schwarz are finding new freedoms inside the structures. Bhatti and Jahnel also bring their own compositions into the band; for the drummer this is a new development. “Ketan’s writing is very open”, says Cymin, “and that allows for a lot of improvisational input from everybody. Benedikt’s pieces are often more detailed in their arrangement. For me their contribution as composers is a real enrichment for the band as a whole. Offering different colours, but working within the special character of the group.”
Where, last time around, singer Cymin Samawatie drew on classic Persian poetry (Rumi, Hafez), for some of her texts, this time the lyrics are all hers. Realities of life in Iran, observed at a distance, influenced some of the writing – in particular “Shakibaai” and the title track “Saburi”. Originally written for Cymin’s performance at the 2009 Morgenland Festival in Osnabrück, these are songs shaped at a time when Ahmadinejad’s security forces were suppressing post-election protests on the streets of Tehran, and there is exasperation in the song-texts, as well as a kind of bitter stoicism. (“Saburi” translates as “patience”, “Shakibaai” as “endurance”).
Samawatie: “I’ve never wanted Cyminology to be a ‘political’ band, but I am Iranian and affected by what’s happening. I look at the situation and acknowledge there is little I can do about it. I would like to say something and I can’t, I would like to do something and I can’t. I have to admit that there is a lot of emotion happening inside myself. I can’t be there, but I’m watching from here. The song ‘Shakibaai’ touches on this aspect, too. It can be very painful to be on the outside looking in, but will weeping about it in Germany help anyone in Iran?”
Interspersed throughout the CD booklet, and implying a range of moods, by no means all troubled, are photos Cymin Samawatie took in Tehran during her last visit there some two years ago. Born to Iranian parents in Braunschweig, Germany, in 1976, she was raised bilingually, and as a child spent part of each year in Iran.
The multicultural aggregation that is Cyminology could perhaps only have been formed in Berlin. Pianist Benedikt Jahnel, born 1980 in France, grew up near Munich, moving to Berlin in 2000. His teachers have included John Taylor, Richie Beirach and Kenny Werner. He has toured with leading international musicians including Charlie Mariano and Phil Woods, and is active also with his own trio.
Percussionist Ketan Bhatti, born in New Delhi, India in 1981, grew up in Bielefeld. Touring as a drummer since he was 14, he has been active in projects from reggae and hip-hop to jazz as both musician and producer, and also writes music for theatre productions.
Bassist Ralf Schwarz, born in 1971, grew up, like Cymin, in Braunschweig, and played organ and guitar before switching to double-bass and electric bass a decade ago. Through lessons and workshops with jazz masters like Ron Carter, Steve Coleman, Mark Dresser, Mark Helias, Richie Beirach and Billy Hart he has had the opportunity to refine and develop his skills.
Cymin Samawatie’s idea of making the Persian language a focus of her work was first developed while she was studying at Berlin’s Hochschule der Kunst, where teacher Jerry Granelli encouraged her to set Persian poetry to non-traditional arrangements, and now the sound of the language itself, its softness and suppleness, is a shaping force in the music.
But not always. “Saburi” also includes pieces that break the pattern. On the tune “Norma”, Cymin offers wordless tribute to singer Norma Winstone, whose natural unaffected vocals on the ECM album “Distances” have been a recent inspiration. “Sometimes you hear something great and you just want to give something back, to make something in similar spirit. That was the story of my piece for Norma”. Cyminology played opposite Winstone’s trio at an ECM concert series at London’s King’s Place early in 2009. In the wake of “As Ney” the group, always intrepid travellers, have toured very widely, with concerts from Rangoon to Washington D.C.
“Saburi” is launched with a February/March tour in Germany and Austria. Dates include concerts in Munich, Vienna, Stuttgart, Osnabrück, and Mannheim. Prior to the tour there will be a release concert at Berlin’s A-Trane Club on January 19, 2011. For full tour details consult the web site www.ecmrecords.com and also Cyminology’s site www.cyminology.de.
