Articles

Cyminology: Exploring New Compositional Frontiers

By John Patten

After forming in 2002, Berlin-based Cyminology has been exploring the rich musical territory bound by the backgrounds of members Cymin Samawatie, pianist Benedikt Jahnel, drummer Ketan Bhatti and bassist Ralf Schwarz. Holding the foursome's unique tapestry of styles together is Samawatie's vocal and compositional work, built around classical Persian poetry, as well as her own writing.

The band began forging its sound after Samawatie started exploring her Iranian musical heritage. Moved by the power of the ...

Cyminology: As Ney

By John Kelman

More than many others, ECM has pursued the kind of stylistic and, in particular, cross-cultural pollination alluded to in the recent documentary series, Icons Among Us. But as much as albums like Savina Yannatou's Songs of Another (ECM, 2008) and Dino Saluzzi/Anja Lechner's Ojos Negros (ECM, 2007) looked to dissolve the boundaries between geographic and disciplinary concerns, they still tended to lean more strongly in one direction or another. As Ney, the ECM debut of the Cyminology (their third release ...