Constantinople – Estuaire

An estuary is that portion of a river where fresh water and salt water meet. A space that activates and stimulates life. From there to making it a symbol of meeting and sharing, it is a step taken with grace by the musicians Kiya Tabassian, Ablaye Cissoko, and Patrick Graham, of the Montreal Constantinople ensemble.

The trio let their imagination, enriched with humanism, speak—nay, sing—and fully unfold. Through the intonations and accents of the music from their cultural origins (Iran for Tabassian, Senegal for Cissoko) or academic backgrounds (Graham is a versatile percussionist, nurtured in classical, folk, and multiple traditional scholarly traditions), the three Montreal musicians (in fact, Cissoko is almost a local given how often he is here) take us into their transcultural, warm, and welcoming vision.

Between Nicolet and Tadoussac

In these eleven tracks imbued with melodic beauty, tenderness, and literary poetry inspired by the most beautiful stories and legends from distant lands, the trio creates the soundtrack for a joyful and jubilant journey through our own.

What beautiful melodies are drawn here, often purely instrumental, sometimes sung as well! Cissoko and Tabassian both have beautiful voices coloured by their respective musical styles, and they let them soar above the sunny rhythms and harmonies of their compositions. The overall energy is captivating, uplifting, and irresistible.

One imagines rolling, or gliding (the joy of being a bird!) in this local estuary, that of the Saint-Lawrence, between Nicolet and Tadoussac. A space increasingly adorned by these new lives, coming from all over the world and destined to breathe new vitality into these places long prepared by welcoming peoples, from the First Nations to the old-stock Quebecers.

And then, we are moved.
Estuaire is a gift and an anthem to the beauty and humanistic strength of encounter.