"The Rise Up" - Mehmet Ali Sanlikol & Whatsnext? feat. Dave Liebman [EPK]
MEHMET ALI SANLIKOL
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Winner of both the Copland and New Music USA grants, “THE RISE UP” was commissioned directly by NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman and it is an extended composition that combines traditional Turkish instruments and voices with the jazz language in a cosmopolitan and an internalized way.
Sanlikol has been saddened and personally affected by the recent political turmoil and malignant stereotyping of Muslims and minority communities in the US lately. As a result, he constructed this piece around three episodes from Middle Eastern history which chronicle dark and traumatic events followed by human inspiration. The first narrative centers around the great Sufi poet Rumi, composer of the most beautiful mystical poetry ever written after the murder of Shams, his beloved teacher. The second story comes from the traditions of Sephardic Jews, expelled from Spain but welcomed by the Ottomans, leading to a cultural flowering treasured to this day. The third narrative tells the story of Mimar Sinan, forcibly taken by the Ottomans as a young Orthodox Christian boy, who came to embrace his new Muslim identity and rose to great heights as the master architect of some of the greatest mosques in the world.
The piece was premiered on May 17, 2019. Not in a million years did we think that the message, central to this composition, will become relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests!
"THE RISE UP:
Stories of Strife, Struggle and Inspiration
" is an extended programmatic piece for jazz orchestra conducted by Ken Schaphorst.
Now available on ALL streaming platforms and Bandcamp: https://dunya.bandcamp.com/album/the-rise-up-stories-of-strife-struggle-and-inspiration
www.dunyainc.org - www.sanlikol.com