| The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan | 
 enlarge | Artist: Various Artists
Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Category: Music
List Price: $21.98
Buy New: $16.84
You Save: $5.14 (23%)
Buy New/Used from $12.20
Avg. Customer Rating:   (10 reviews)
Sales Rank: 68222
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.6
MPN: 40438
UPC: 093074043820
EAN: 0093074043820
ASIN: B000063NDQ
Release Date: April 23, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-10 of 10 | | « PREV | | |
 Like an Exotic Journey August 6, 2005
This is the ultimate World Music collection. It features authentic sounds from vastly diverse cultures, assembled in such a way that they don't clash, they flow along like a caravan journey. If you're looking for familiar tunes, this isn't for you. But if you'd like to expand your musical horizons, I highly recommend it.
Fantastic Sounds of Silk Road April 24, 2005
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
These two CDs include very interesting pieces from the silk road.
Most of the songs have Turkish origins, from different regions of Central Asia, such as Azeri, Turkmen, Uzbek, Uyghur, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Tajik, Karakalpak, and Khakas (Altay Turks) and others.
Other songs originate from Iran, Afghanistan, China, and Japan.
Since they are collected as field recordings, they are purely authentic.
My personal favorites are:
1. Fakhri Havasi
2. Balbyraun
3. Dilkash
4. Uchundur
5. Choban Bayati
6. Nava
7. Woy Bala
8. Lament
9. Mashq-e Javanan
10. Sanam
12. Charzarb
And all of the pieces in the spiritual section.
Listen to these CDs and you will be transported to your inner self.
Music from the Steppes and Deserts June 1, 2003
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
This is a wonderful two CD set of music covering the traditions of the Silk Road. Althugh it includes pieces of Chinese, Persian, Turkish, Azeri, Japanese and Armenian origin, this CD's focus remains strongly tilted towards the musical traditions of Central Asia; Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Uzbekestan, Turkestan, Mongolia and so forth. This is very much the tradition of steppe nomads, merchants and traders. While listening to the CD, you can see as much of an influence from outside sources such as Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Chinese and Indian traditions, as you can from traditional Central Asian sources. After all, for many centuries the Silk Road provided a trade route between the West and East, so this should not come as any surprise.
The first CD fouses on traditional, classical styles. In it, we are presented with some truely beautiful and emotional pieces. The Dance of Tamir Agha is truely exotic and seductive. Uchun Dur is majestic and inspiring. The Lullaby from Itsuki and Jiu Kuang express the calm, melodious sounds of East Asia. Mokhalef and Shushtari give wonderful examples of how wonderful Persian music is. And the River Herlen is just magnificent. All of these songs are positively breath taking. The second CD continues this, giving examples of folk music and religious music. Tjeresa Kazakh Jew's Harp melody, which is simple but intrigueing; part of the Alpamish Epic, which is a mournful but beautiful song; and several other examples of Nomadic folk singing. Then, we are treated with several examples of music from festivals, including "Mizghan-i-Siyah", an Azeri love song and "Charzarb". Finally, it rounds out with religious music, combining steppe nomad's animism with mystical Islam. Included here is a Kazakh song drawing upon the ancestors; a Kyrgyz wisdom song; a performance of the Sufi zikr; the Turkish Alevi mystics and the moving "Allah Madad" from Iran/Afghanistan. All I can say is that if you appreciate the classical, folk and religious musics of Asia or the Middle East, then you would certainly appreciate this CD. Buy it as soon as you get a chance.
Very interesting... October 29, 2002
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
This was my introduction to a lot of eastern music that I hadn't been exposed to before. The accompanying documentation about each piece and the instruments used was fascinating.. This is the first CD in a long time that I've actually *listened* to, instead of just playing in the background. I don't know what else to say, other than this was thoroughly enjoyable and illuminating.. I now know what types of eastern / mid-eastern music I might be interested in buying in the future, based on the examples provided here.I really can't think of anything bad to say about it, so 5 stars it is..
 good collection containing unique music from all over! August 29, 2002
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
I love the second disc. The first disk was not the best and seemed to consist entirely of the same type/meter of music. This is an ethnographic collection, however, so I understand that they are sampling all sorts of musicians from the same general (actually huge) geographic area, many of which share the same musical roots.To return to disc 2 - wonderful variety and worth the price just for it. The first 4 songs are especially wonderful and contain mongolian throat singing - track 4 has got to be my favorite. The vast majority the songs are string instrument/percussion based, with a few flute songs thrown in. There are no longs in english, so don't buy the connection if you want to understand the words! To me, that is part of the charm!
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