On Friday 19 February from 21:00-22:00 CET the ensemble
Babak-o-Doestan is guest in the programme Acoustic Roots.
The recording will take place at the Pieternel of the Pieterskerk
in Utrecht.
Babak-o-Doestan
is an ensemble conducted by Babak Amiri and is based in Amsterdam. The
musicians come from three different continents and their music
forms a
natural bond between East and West.
They
bring an exotic mix of jazz, fado, Turkisch, Balkan and Iranian musical
styles. What is special about this group is the diversity of
instruments: Spanish guitar, daf, cajón, cello, bass guitar and piano.
Teamwork
Striking
is their high level of team-
work onstage. The musicians of
Babak-o-Doestan are not only there for themselves, but also to deliver
a performance as a whole. So the
name Babak-o-Doestan (Babak and
Friends) completely suits this group.
Babak-o-Doestan consists of:
- Babak Amiri (guitar, daf, vocals)
- Bam Commijs (piano)
- Minze Koopman (cajón)
- Murat Yatmaz (bass guitar)
- Heather Leslie (cello)
Singer/guitarist/daf
player Babak Amiri is from Teheran. As a teenager he really wanted to
play the guitar, preferably all sorts of (forbidden) styles. At age 18
he moved to the Netherlands to study at the Rietveld Academy. He began
to play in fado bands, wrote poetry and was involved in a whole series
of musical projects. In the ensemble Babak-o-Doestan Amiri sings poetic
lyrics in Persian and he composes the music, which the bandmembers
complement with their arrangements and solos.
Enormous impact
Amiri
met percussionist Minze Koopman roughly eight years ago and introduced
him to 'world music'. Koopman has been playing in the rock-, pop- and
country scene in the Netherlands for years. Babak and Minze got
together for a single performance for a festival and played 3 songs at
the night club Panama in Amsterdam. These songs had an enormous impact
on the audience.
Bam Commijs (pianist) joined the group and brought jazz, chansons and theatre world influences.
Murat Yatmaz is a young jazz bass player from Ankara, who studies as a graduate
at the Conservatorium in Amsterdam. His influences are jazz and other
genres, such as fusion, contemporary, drum ‘n’ bass, electronics, and
Latin.
Cellist Heather Leslie plays a magical 100 year
old gypsy cello. This instrument suits her, because she mainly gained
her knowledge of music by playing with gypsies.
Take a look at the website of Babak-o-Doestan and this video.
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