Al-Andalus Ensemble is an award-winning husband and wife musical duo that performs contemporary Andalusian 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....

. The ensemble features Tarik Banzi playing oud

Oud

The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...

, ney

Ney

The ney is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Middle Eastern music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. It is a very ancient instrument, with depictions of ney players appearing in wall paintings in the Egyptian pyramids and actual neys being found...

 and darbuka

Goblet drum

The goblet drum is a hand drum with a goblet shape used mostly in the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe....

, and Julia Banzi on flamenco guitar

Flamenco guitar

A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar. Flamenco guitar also refers to toque, the guitar-playing part of the art of Flamenco.-Brief history:...

.

Tarik Banzi was born in Morocco, and Julia, one of the few well-known female flamenco guitarists, is a native of Denver.

Style

The Al-Andalus Ensemble plays traditional Andalusian music while their contemporary works draw much of its inspiration from the musical traditions rooted in the Classical Andalusian genre of North African, Flamenco, Judeo-Spanish (Ladino), as well as jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, Classical, South Indian and Western classical music.

Many of the instruments they use in their performance are traditional North African and Middle Eastern instruments: the oud, kamanja, darbuka, tar

Tar (drum)

A tar is a single-headed frame drum. The tar comes from North Africa and the Middle East. Depictions of these frame drums date back thousands of years....

 and rebab

Rebab

The rebab , also rebap, rabab, rebeb, rababah, or al-rababa) is a type of string instrument so named no later than the 8th century and spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe, and the Far East...

, as well as the 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....

 cajón

Cajón

A cajón is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front face with the hands.-Origins and evolution:...

, guitar

Flamenco guitar

A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar. Flamenco guitar also refers to toque, the guitar-playing part of the art of Flamenco.-Brief history:...

, and palmas

Palmas

Palmas may refer to:* Palmas, one of the two sectors of Cataño, Puerto Rico* Palmas, Tocantins, the capital of the state of Tocantins in Brazil* Palmas, Paraná, a centenary small city in the south of the state of Paraná in Brazil...

 and Western instruments such as the flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

, saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

, drum set and piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

. Their work is sometimes accompanied by dance performances, including dancers and other world-music specialists.

Robert McBride, music director for Oregon Public Broadcasting, described their music as "something timeless, wonderful and very stimulating."

Discography

The Al-Andalus Ensemble's work can be heard on their six recordings: 21 Strings (2009), Alchemy (2006), Vision (2000), Genetic Memories(1998), Illumination (1992) and Liman: For Whom? (1990).

Awards

The title song from the Al-Andalus Ensemble's album Alchemy was awarded the JPFolks Award also known as the "People's Grammy Award" for “Best World Music Song of 2009." The song Alchemy features simply oud and guitar and was selected from over 560,000 songs entered from 163 countries around the world in what is the world's largest Independent Music Awards.

'The album "21 Strings" was nominated for "Best Contemporary Classical Album of 2010" in the 9th annual Independent Music Awards.