Al andalus ensemble
Encyclopedia
Al-Andalus Ensemble is a contemporary Andalusian
musical ensemble whose core members are husband-wife team Tarik Banzi and Julia Banzi. They combine the music of Arabo-Andalusian
, Spanish Flamenco
, Medieval Spanish cantigas, Ladino
(Jewish-Spanish) melodies, Arabic rhythms, and vocals in Spanish, Arabic, Ladino and English to create the musical style which has been labeled "contemporary Andalusian."
They seek to sustain and continue the Andalusian classical music
traditions of Tarik's native Morocco and his ancestors' home in Moorish Andalusia. Ted Gioia
, author of The History of Jazz, likened Al-Andalus Ensemble's creation of the "contemporary Andalusian" genre to Astor Piazzolla's creation of Nuevo Tango
style, essentially saying that both these sets of musicians had revitalized traditional musical styles that were growing stagnant by embracing multicultural influences that allowed them to transform and modernize their traditional music.
The ensemble's membership of musicians and dancers shifts with its performance needs, and past and current members have include Arab-American violinist Charlie Bisharat
, Billy Oskay Nightnoise
, Jorge Pardo
, Gavin Bondy and Martin Zarzar
, Anthony Jones, Joe Heinemann, Ranjani Krishnan and Margarita Bruce. and Pink Martini
members Martin Zarzar and Gavin Bondy as well as Moroccan musician Noureddine Chekara, Spanish singer Virtudes Sanchez, American singer Emily Miles, Basque flamenco dancer Laura Dubroca and Spanish flamenco dancer MaJose Franco.
, Manolo Sanlucar
, Enrique Morente
and Jorge Pardo and it has been claimed that Tarik introduced the use of the darbuka and Udu
to flamenco music. Two of his students, Fain Duenas and Vicente Molina, went on to form the Grammy-nominated world music group Radio Tarifa
.
Julia Banzi holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Santa Barbara
and specializes in flamenco and women's performance of Andalusian music. She lived in Spain for many years and studied flamenco with Isidro Munoz, Manolo Sanlucar, David Serva and Juan Maya "Marote." She is one of a very few female flamenco guitarists worldwide. Her PhD dissertation from the University of California at Santa Barbara discusses modern changes in flamenco and is titled "Flamenco Guitar Innovation and the Circumscription of Tradition" (2007). Her Master thesis "“Women’s Andalusian Ensembles of Tetuan, Morocco" (2002) is the result of over 15 years of research into women's ensembles in North Africa (Morocco). She contributed two chapters on Moroccan and Spanish food and women's performance to the multi-authored book The Ethnomusicologists' Cookbook: Complete Meals from Around the World (Routledge 2006). She teaches guitar at Reed College and Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
, Spain. Historically, "Al-Andalus
" refers to Moorish Iberia, or parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims between 711 and 1492. During these eight centuries, Andalusian Spain witnessed cultural cooperation and innovation between Africa, the East and the West as well as between Muslims, Jews and Christians. The Al-Andalus Ensemble follows the model of Al-Andalus
in composition and performance, drawing on many cultures and traditions to present the suggestion of intercultural peace and artistic innovation.
-based California ArtsBridge award for their K-12 educational program "Journey from Baghdad to Cordoba". The "Baghdad.." program is now part of the Young Audiences association to bring the arts into schools throughout North America.
Andalusian people
The Andalusians are the people of the southern region in Spain approximated by what is now called Andalusia. They are generally not considered an ethnically distinct people because they lack two of the most important markers of distinctiveness: their own language and an awareness of a presumed...
musical ensemble whose core members are husband-wife team Tarik Banzi and Julia Banzi. They combine the music of Arabo-Andalusian
Andalusian classical music
Andalusian classical music is a style of Moorish music found across North Africa in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. It originates out of the music of Al-Andalus between the 9th and 15th centuries....
, Spanish Flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, Medieval Spanish cantigas, Ladino
Judaeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish , in Israel commonly referred to as Ladino, and known locally as Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Spaniolit and other names, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish...
(Jewish-Spanish) melodies, Arabic rhythms, and vocals in Spanish, Arabic, Ladino and English to create the musical style which has been labeled "contemporary Andalusian."
They seek to sustain and continue the Andalusian classical music
Andalusian classical music
Andalusian classical music is a style of Moorish music found across North Africa in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. It originates out of the music of Al-Andalus between the 9th and 15th centuries....
traditions of Tarik's native Morocco and his ancestors' home in Moorish Andalusia. Ted Gioia
Ted Gioia
Ted Gioia is a noted jazz critic and music historian, best known for his books The History of Jazz and Delta Blues, both selected as notable books of the year by The New York Times. He is one of the editors in chief of the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians. He is also a jazz musician and one of the...
, author of The History of Jazz, likened Al-Andalus Ensemble's creation of the "contemporary Andalusian" genre to Astor Piazzolla's creation of Nuevo Tango
Nuevo tango
Tango Nuevo - either a form of music in which new elements are incorporated into traditional Argentine tango, or an evolution of tango dance that began to develop in the 1980s...
style, essentially saying that both these sets of musicians had revitalized traditional musical styles that were growing stagnant by embracing multicultural influences that allowed them to transform and modernize their traditional music.
The ensemble's membership of musicians and dancers shifts with its performance needs, and past and current members have include Arab-American violinist Charlie Bisharat
Charlie Bisharat
Charlie Bisharat is a Grammy-winning violinistwho has extensively toured and/or recorded with numerous artists. He was a member of Shadowfax who won a Grammy in 1988 for Best New Age Performance for Folksongs for a Nuclear Village...
, Billy Oskay Nightnoise
Nightnoise
Nightnoise was a music ensemble active from 1984 to 1997. Their original blend of Irish traditional music, Celtic music, jazz, and classical chamber music inspired a generation of Irish musicians...
, Jorge Pardo
Jorge Pardo (musician)
Jorge Pardo is a Spanish musician born 1955 in Madrid, known for the albums he released for Milestone Records in the 1990s. He has been a side musician of famous flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia and also with American jazz legend Chick Corea...
, Gavin Bondy and Martin Zarzar
Pink Martini
Pink Martini is a 13-member "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They draw inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop.-History:...
, Anthony Jones, Joe Heinemann, Ranjani Krishnan and Margarita Bruce. and Pink Martini
Pink Martini
Pink Martini is a 13-member "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They draw inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop.-History:...
members Martin Zarzar and Gavin Bondy as well as Moroccan musician Noureddine Chekara, Spanish singer Virtudes Sanchez, American singer Emily Miles, Basque flamenco dancer Laura Dubroca and Spanish flamenco dancer MaJose Franco.
Biography
Tarik Banzi, descended from Moorish Andalusians who fled Spain during the Spanish Reconquest, is a visual artist as well as musician and composer. He holds a doctorate in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain and his paintings have been exhibited internationally. He was also an active member of the Madrid flamenco music scene since the late 1970s until the early 1980s, including membership in the jazz-flamenco fusion band Guadalquivir. He performed and recorded with flamenco master musicians such as Paco de LuciaPaco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
, Manolo Sanlucar
Manolo Sanlúcar
Manolo Sanlúcar is a flamenco composer and guitarist born in Sanlúcar de Barrameda in 1945. He is considered one of the most important Spanish composers of present times, and together with Paco de Lucía, Serranito, and Vicente Amigo, one of the main figures in the evolution of the flamenco...
, Enrique Morente
Enrique Morente
Enrique Morente Cotelo, known as Enrique Morente, was a flamenco singer and a controversial figure within the world of contemporary flamenco...
and Jorge Pardo and it has been claimed that Tarik introduced the use of the darbuka and Udu
Udu
for other uses see Udu The udu is an African drum originated by the Igbo people of Nigeria. In the Igbo language, udu means vessel. Actually being a water jug with an additional hole, it was played by women for ceremonial uses. Usually the udu is made of clay...
to flamenco music. Two of his students, Fain Duenas and Vicente Molina, went on to form the Grammy-nominated world music group Radio Tarifa
Radio Tarifa
Radio Tarifa was a Spanish World music ensemble combining Flamenco, Arab-Andalusian music, Arabian music, Moorish music and also influences of the Mediterranean, of the Middle Ages and of the Caribbean. The name of the ensemble comes from an imaginary radio station in Tarifa, a small town in the...
.
Julia Banzi holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
and specializes in flamenco and women's performance of Andalusian music. She lived in Spain for many years and studied flamenco with Isidro Munoz, Manolo Sanlucar, David Serva and Juan Maya "Marote." She is one of a very few female flamenco guitarists worldwide. Her PhD dissertation from the University of California at Santa Barbara discusses modern changes in flamenco and is titled "Flamenco Guitar Innovation and the Circumscription of Tradition" (2007). Her Master thesis "“Women’s Andalusian Ensembles of Tetuan, Morocco" (2002) is the result of over 15 years of research into women's ensembles in North Africa (Morocco). She contributed two chapters on Moroccan and Spanish food and women's performance to the multi-authored book The Ethnomusicologists' Cookbook: Complete Meals from Around the World (Routledge 2006). She teaches guitar at Reed College and Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Historical Influences
The Al-Andalus Ensemble takes its name and much of its inspiration from Al-AndalusAl-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
, Spain. Historically, "Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
" refers to Moorish Iberia, or parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims between 711 and 1492. During these eight centuries, Andalusian Spain witnessed cultural cooperation and innovation between Africa, the East and the West as well as between Muslims, Jews and Christians. The Al-Andalus Ensemble follows the model of Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
in composition and performance, drawing on many cultures and traditions to present the suggestion of intercultural peace and artistic innovation.
Educational Programs
The ensemble won the University of California, Santa BarbaraUniversity of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
-based California ArtsBridge award for their K-12 educational program "Journey from Baghdad to Cordoba". The "Baghdad.." program is now part of the Young Audiences association to bring the arts into schools throughout North America.
Awards
- Al-Andalus Ensemble's 2009 album "21 Strings" nominated for "Best Contemporary Classical Album of 2010" in the 9th Annual Independent Music Awards.
- JPFolksJust Plain Folks Music OrganizationJust Plain Folks Music Organization is a website and community founded by Brian Austin Whitney with the intent of helping anyone involved in the music industry to network, share their experiences, build relationships, and grow...
"Peoples Grammy" music Award for "Best World Music Song of 2009" (Al-Andalus Ensemble song “Alchemy” chosen No. 1 out of more than 500,000 entries). Also known as "GrassRoot Grammy" - California ArtsBridge award: "Best in Creative and Complete Planning for Teaching Arts in the Public Schools.”
- Julia Banzi was selected for the Rotary Ambassadorial ScholarRotary InternationalRotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
to Morocco by the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara North.
Discography
- “21 Strings” Al-Andalus Productions, 2009.
- “Alchemy” Al-Andalus Records, 2006.
- "Vision" Al-Andalus Productions, 2004.
- “Genetic Memories” Al-Andalus Records, 1999.
- “Proximity 21” Cent Media Records, 1999.
- “Illumination” KOCH International, 1996.
- “The Bridge II” Regional Arts and Culture Council, 1996.
- “The Bridge I” Regional Arts and Culture Council, 1994.
- “Liman: For Whom?” Al-Andalus Records, 1992.