The Pamir range is not as well known as the Himalayas, but has peaks that go as high as 24,000 feet and it is a rugged but beautiful area where the famed Silk Road between China and Europe passes and Marco Polo passed through Badakhshan in 1270 to get to China.
While the music of the region dates back many centuries, study of it is relatively recent and recordings were few. These performances were captured at community events and structures, including at weddings, funerals and dance performances. Lutes of five and six strings, a fiddle, and a variety of percussion instruments for the basis of the music. Eight musicians are the performers, including singers as well as instrumentalists with the eldest being in his mid-80s.
In addition to the very information and detailed liner notes, there are some great photographs of musicians and dancers in portrait and performance forms. The sounds have a lot of influence from Persia and the Shia Ismaili Muslims who live there take a lot of their vocal stylings and lyrical content from spiritual and devotional traditions dating back centuries to poets like Rumi, Hafiz and others.
The isolation of the peoples of the region are reflected in these remarkable recordings which were made in 1991 and 1992 just after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the also show the fascinating meeting point of societies from Central Asia in a part of the world too few of us (this blogger included) in America know enough (if anything) about.
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