Cyminology - Phoenix (2015) [Hi-Res]

German-Iranian singer Cymin Samawatie and her band Cyminology (which she founded in 2002) continue on their unique course, allowing the subtle yet dynamic sounds and rhythms of Persian poetry to influence their compositions and improvisation, with their third disc for ECM.

Like its predecessors - 'As Ney' (1780149) and 'Saburi' (2753891) - 'Phoenix' is produced by Manfred Eicher at Oslo's Rainbow Studio. The core unit of Cymin, pianist Benedikt Jahnel, bassist Ralf Schwarz and drummer Ketan Bhati are joined, for the first time on record, by Martin Stegner, the Berlin Philharmonic violist who has been a frequent collaborator with Cyminology since 2011. The viola, the string instrument closest to the human voice, becomes a kind of second singer here, extending the sense of East/West dialogue alive in the music.

The album is dedicated to the memory of Forough Farrokhzaad (1935-1967), the outspoken Iranian modernist poet and film director, whose cry for personal freedom Cymin has celebrated also on the 2008 recording 'As Ney'. Samawatie returns to Farrokhzaad's troubled love poems here, alongside her own lyrics, classic Sufi poetry by Hafiz (c. 1325-1390), and verse of Nima Yushij (1896-1960), who is often considered the father of contemporary Persian poetry. Most of the music is Samawatie's, with Jahnel, Schwarz and Bhatti contributing as co-composers on a few pieces.

In Cyminology's video trailer for 'Phoenix' Bhatti speaks about the band's singular position between the genres: 'Our music is somewhere in between jazz, world music and classical music and between cultures, Occident and Orient. It is never simply one thing or the other, but somehow all and none of them at once.'

Cymin Samawatie, vocals
Benedikt Jahnel, piano
Ralf Schwarz, double bass
Ketan Bhatti, drums, percussion
Martin Stegner, viola