Cat No GMC017

“Aman Aman” is a new project by the two leading members of the Catalan group L’Ham de Foc : multi-instrumentalist Efren Lopez and singer Mara Aranda. L’Ham de Foc are widely acclaimed for their 3 albums of traditional folk and early music. This new album is another remarkable example of how erudite musicological research can breathe fresh life into a tradition instead of reducing it to dry history. The tradition, in this case is of the Sephardic Jews, expelled from the Iberic Peninsula in 1492, and whose musical influence in the subsequent centuries, spread through the cultures of Greece, Turkey, Arabia, Bulgaria, and the whole Mediterranean area. Efren & Mara were keen to examine any written traditions, 78 recordings or living folk versions, but not to become restrictively ‘purist’ in their interpretations - allowing the nomadic, eclectic nature of sephardic music to continue to develop in their hands. The were joined by L’Ham du Foc multi-instrumentalist Diego Lopez, and ney player Christos Barbas, who had guested on the “Cor de Porc” CD in 2005; other guest musicians play cello, kanun, lyre, double bass, guitars & assorted percussion. The material covers rembetikos, karsilamas, wedding songs, hymns, lullabies, romantic ballads, and instrumental dances.