Syriana - 1325 Ibn Battutah (2024)

In February of the year 1325, the Moroccan lawyer, Battuta sent his 21 year-old son from their home in Tangier to complete the Haj in Mecca and study law in Damascus. He hoped the young man would become a judge, a mediator, and peacemaker, a good Muslim. He wouldn’t see him for another 24 years. Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battuta, or Ibn Battuta for short, would become one of the greatest celebrities in the Islamic world. His 73,000-mile journey was twice the distance of Admiral Zheng Hi and almost five times that of Marco Polo. The memoir he dictated late in life, The Rihla, is one of the greatest travel stories ever written and remains in print to this day. His stories, and those he quoted of the many wives, concubines and slave women who travelled with him and bore his children are the inspiration for the second Syriana album, conceived by Bernard O’Neill and Nick ‘Dubulah’ Page. The album, and the additional music they crafted and captured, is itself a record of a life’s journey, that of Nick. Recorded in Morocco and Andalusia, London and theTarn, it encapsulates a period of intense creativity between O’Neill and Page, sadly Nick Page passed away in May 2021. With the voices of the women echoed in seven songs by Esbe , Maria Joao Branco, Mouna Eddrou , Olcay Bayir and Natacha Atlas and Ibn Battuta’s elderly voice portrayed by Umit Ceyhan, O’Neill and Dubulah have woven a dazzling musical tapestry, embroidered with the virtuosity of Mazin Abu Sayf, Ashley Slater, Kalia Lyraki, Eliza Marshall, Raphael Sibertin Blanc, Imed Alibi, Simon Webster, Nick Van Gelder, Pip Eastop, Neil Stacey, Harutyun Chkolyan, Maren Lueg, Dave Molloy , Amelie Ceyhan, Andrew McPherson,Andy Brodie, Richard Bolton,Matthaois Tsahouridis and Anouar Dekkaki and The Sufi Musicians of Meknes. It is an album borne of wonder and respect, a 21st Century tribute to a 14th Century band of travellers, who travelled from Morocco to India, from Spain to Mali, sharing what they knew and learning what they didn’t. Nick Page’s journey ended tragically before the project was complete, but his own life’s journey, that influenced and inspired so many, is embedded in every beat of every track. As he said on many occasions “You're only as good as the people you work with” As Bernard O’Neill said, ‘This is the story of two great men and the extraordinary men and women who love them, separated by 700 years and united by curiosity, fearlessness and wonder.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Syriana - Feast at Antaliyah (4:57)
1.02 - Syriana - Como Tu (6:00)
1.03 - Syriana - Dimashq Al Sham (6:00)
1.04 - Syriana - The Greek Women of Ladhiq (7:11)
1.05 - Syriana - Al Karak , Kole Kizin Sarkisi (7:27)
1.06 - Syriana - The Amir of Khwarism (3:22)
1.07 - Syriana - Las Puntas (3:42)
1.08 - Syriana - Dihli to Kinbaya (4:30)
1.09 - Syriana - Como Fantasmas (6:32)
1.10 - Syriana - Between Zafir and Zabid (6:24)
1.11 - Syriana - Qasr Al Zafiyah (4:52)
1.12 - Syriana - Gharnatah, Fountain of Tears (3:35)
1.13 - Syriana - A Gift to Those Who Contemplate (3:04)
1.14 - Syriana - Law Inta Kunt Hina (5:46)