Country : China / Syria / United States Label : Arc Genres and styles : Arabic Traditional / Experimental / Contemporary / North East Asian Year : 2020

From Our World To Yours

· by Rupert Bottenberg

This pairing of pluckers of pear-shaped instruments arrives with admirable bona fides. Composer and oud player Issam Rafea was the principal conductor of the now-defunct Syrian National Orchestra (yes, the one on the Gorillaz track “White Flag”). A professional pipa player since the age of 12, after training with a top master in Beijing, Gao Hong (now based in Minnesota) has garnered awards, accolades, and academic honours ever since.

Both are voracious collaborators, so it’s not entirely surprising that once their paths crossed, they’d conspire to explore the commonalities and contrasts of their instruments, each a relative of the lute. Their first record together, Life As Is, came out in 2018, and now their second appears.

The initial impression is of a polite Sino-Syrian diplomatic exchange, and the title track, opening the album, doesn’t dispel the notion. Neither do “Moving Forward” or “Joyful Dance”. Elsewhere, however, the conversations between the two – entirely improvised and informed by free association – seem to occur in third-party territory (there’s something rather Renaissance about “Reunion”) or even on some other world entirely (consider the mimicry of Martian mechanisms on “Outer Space” and “Robot”).

At the very least, the duo’s discussions are often in a language all their own, spacious, expressive, and convincing. The nice, dry, open sound of the live recording allows an excellent appreciation of the dynamics, timbres, and particularly the percussive possibilities that Hong and Rafea enthusiastically exploit.

Latest 360 Content

Ric’key Pageot: Madonna’s pianist and his passion for Black classical music

Ric’key Pageot: Madonna’s pianist and his passion for Black classical music

ONJ | Tirolien with Strings Brings Down the House

ONJ | Tirolien with Strings Brings Down the House

Kelly-Marie Murphy and the ideas lostness in music

Kelly-Marie Murphy and the ideas lostness in music

Kerson Leong and the timeless violin

Kerson Leong and the timeless violin

Noé Preszow – De ton vivant

Noé Preszow – De ton vivant

Les Violons du Roy Play with Timelessness with Kerson Leong: Interview with Laurent Patenaude

Les Violons du Roy Play with Timelessness with Kerson Leong: Interview with Laurent Patenaude

M / NM | The multiple voices of Corie Rose Soumah

M / NM | The multiple voices of Corie Rose Soumah

DVTR – Né pour flâner

DVTR – Né pour flâner

APACALDA – Jealous

APACALDA – Jealous

Center PHI | Cymatiques III, Kohlenstoff Annual Evening, Music-Video Summit

Center PHI | Cymatiques III, Kohlenstoff Annual Evening, Music-Video Summit

About Kendrick’s Reproval at Super Bowl LIX

About Kendrick’s Reproval at Super Bowl LIX

Black History Month | Time to Celebrate for Naya Ali

Black History Month | Time to Celebrate for Naya Ali

IGLOOFEST | Continuation and End with Four Tet

IGLOOFEST | Continuation and End with Four Tet

Three historic days with Franghiz Ali Zadeh and the Molinari Quartet in Montreal

Three historic days with Franghiz Ali Zadeh and the Molinari Quartet in Montreal

TAVERNE TOUR I The Drin at Le Ministère

TAVERNE TOUR I The Drin at Le Ministère

PRO MUSICA | Sophia Shuya Liu, the next big thing in piano music from Montreal

PRO MUSICA | Sophia Shuya Liu, the next big thing in piano music from Montreal

TAVERNE TOUR I Bad bitch vibes and hyperpop madness at O Patro Vys

TAVERNE TOUR I Bad bitch vibes and hyperpop madness at O Patro Vys

TAVERNE TOUR I Motherhood is a cacophonus explosion of sounds

TAVERNE TOUR I Motherhood is a cacophonus explosion of sounds

TAVERNE TOUR I Gondola is starting to make waves

TAVERNE TOUR I Gondola is starting to make waves

M/NM | Il teatro rosso, a tribute to Montreal’s legendary Red Light era

M/NM | Il teatro rosso, a tribute to Montreal’s legendary Red Light era

Serving Ennio Morricone

Serving Ennio Morricone

TAVERNE TOUR | Quai des brumes sold-out for Tabi Yosha, DJ Moses Bélanger at Rau_Ze

TAVERNE TOUR | Quai des brumes sold-out for Tabi Yosha, DJ Moses Bélanger at Rau_Ze

TAVERNE TOUR | Chandra, La Sécurité, The Gories… taverne tour de force

TAVERNE TOUR | Chandra, La Sécurité, The Gories… taverne tour de force

Subscribe to our newsletter