Artist: Ashkhabad
Genre(s):
Ethnic
Discography:
City of Love
Year: 1993
Tracks: 11
The melodic traditions of Turkmenistan ar combined with non-eastern music influences by Ashkhabad. With its mixture of such Middle Eastern instruments as serp, nagara, taragat and dutar and western classical instruments including fiddle, viola and cello, the group creates a sound that recalls the cinematic euphony of Egypt and India.
Centered about piano accordion player Kurban Kurbanov and vocalist Atabai Tsharykuliev, Ashkhabad takes their identify from their site of source, the das Kapital city of Turkmenistan, placed in the defect plains of western Turkistan nigh the foothills of the Elburz Mountains.
Ashkhabad's debut album, "Metropolis Of Love", released in 1993, united Turkmenistan musicians including Khekberdy Allamuradov (serp, dep and nagara), Sabir Rizaer (clarinet, percussion, soprano sax, serp and nagara), Gassan Mamedov (fiddle) and Bernd von Ostrowski (bass, acoustic bass) and London-based musicians including David DeFries (fluegelhorn), Caroline LaVello (violoncello), Jacelyn Pook (genus Viola) and Sonia Slang (fiddle). Liner notes for the album were written by Peter Gabriel.
