from the In'Collection(s):

Kinan Azmeh / Dinuk Wijeratne

Complex Stories, Simple Sounds

Jazz + Classical | Syria | 2009

“The clarinet of the Syrian Kinan Azmeh comes out of a butterfly’s flutter. It alights on the rails of a wooden bridge between two shrubs, or near a faint candlelight in a small window.
The piano of the Srilankan Dinuk Wijeratne is by a spring, near the murmuring of an irrigation wheel, close to the collision of a pigeon’s wings with the surface of water, by an open space without fence, door, or partition.
In their union, the clarinet and the piano climb up the far horizon. »

Marcel Khalife (Translated by Fady Joudah )

“I recently had the opportunity to listen to a couple of tracks by Kinan Azmeh and Dinuk Wijeratne. I was astonished with the sense of authenticity, inspiration and raw talent that these young musicians display in these recordings. I am very impressed with the way Dinuk has completely reinvented the piano as an instrument. (…) These subdued percussive effects - combined with the mystical, quiet tones of Kinan’s clarinet - create a world unlike anything I have heard before. The music combines Eastern ideas and Western instruments; and a number of distinct musical traditions, from Middle Eastern modes to Indian rhythms. This is the kind of music I can listen to over and over and never get tired.”

Christos Hatzis

«One does not require a lot of background knowledge in order to understand this music. It reveals itself, it grabs the listener and it does not let go until the very last sound has subsided, and one is left with the feeling of 'please, once more'.
Pure magic!»

Manfred Leuchter