Jabir

Both a polymath and erudite musician, Jabir (real name, Francisco Javier Sánchez González) decided to pay homage to the marriage of spirituality and science inspired by the legacy of Al-Andalus, the muslim Spanish civilisation. For that aim, he relied on a vast array of acoustic instruments (ney, violin, ud, bendir and daf), as well as on digital synthesizers and a complex system of computers able to generate aleatory melodies in Middle Eastern scales. He released two albums, the cassette 'Vuelo por las Alturas de Xauen' (1989, EKG), and the LP 'Vuelo por las Alturas de Alhambra', originally published in 1988 on Discos Esplendor Geométrico and a hidden gem in the catalogue of this influential Spanish label. The album unfolds a series of subtle and mesmerising compositions, and it's a recommended listening for those into the most narcotic side of Muslimgauze, the Dariush Dolat-Shahi's lps on Folkways, Jon Hassell's "Fourth World" explorations or even the recent work of contemporary Iranian experimentalists like Sote and Saba Alizadeh. [SOURCE: AGUIRRE RECORDS]