Hijaz & Strings
Hijaz is a multicultural sextet that combines Eastern melodies with improvised jazz. Their music is based on the dialogue between oud and piano. ‘Hijaz’ refers to the Arabic musical scale but also holds a clear reference to jazz. More than ten years already, the band is weaving an intriguing web of Mediterranean warmth, polyrhythmic structures and musical virtuosity. In a tight formation of fore core musicians, Hijaz captures the magic of the moment during their concerts. For this album the band aligned with a cello and two violins and arranged for strings by bass player Ben Faes.
- Jazz in Belgium — « Hijaz is without a doubt one of the best kept secrets of the Belgian world music scene. »
- Worldmusic.co.uk — « This is essentially a jazz album, but one with a difference since the Arabic music scales, the instrumentation and the influence of Greek Rembetika are so infused into the album that you can almost smell the aroma of Eastern spices floating out of the studio. »
- Moors Magazine — « ‘Dunes’ is een zeer veelbelovend klein meesterwerkje, dat na herhaald luisteren steeds meer van zijn schoonheid prijsgeeft. »
- JazzLab — « De muziek vervoert je zo naar een rustige patio in een Mediterraanse stad, op een steenworp afstand van de drukke Medina. »
Line-up
Niko Deman : piano
Osama Abdurasol : ud/qanun
Ben Faes : contrabas
Chryster Aerts : drums/percussie
Jeroen Baert : viool
Karel Koninckx : altviool
Seraphine Stagier : cello