Aqnazar Alavatov • Khezad

from the album "Raqs" (2001)
Buda Musique

I found this c.d. searching the "used" section at Timbuktunes in Portland, Oregon. Having never heard of Aqnazar, I was immediately struck by his gaze on the cover, gently wearing a deep soul and a high spirit. He is from a region SE of Tajikistan, near the Pamir Mountains, where ancient Persian mysticism still infuses the local music. This song was written by Dushanbe Pallayev and sets a text of Rumi. "From discords rifts rise up. From accord strengths rise up." From the liner notes: "The joyous word 'kehzad', which today bears sexual connotations, captures at once the ideas of swelling, ascending, setting out, and beginning anew."

YES