Sheikh Habboush and the Al

Zamzama Productions
Zamzama Productions presents:
“ALEPPIAN SUFI TRANSE”
Sheikh Habboush and the Al-Kindi Ensemble
A concert by the Al-Kindi Ensemble, directed by Julien Jalal Eddine
Weiss always provides an opportunity to listen to the most beautiful voices
in the Arab world. Mr Weiss, a Swiss Alsatian who a few years ago took up
residence in an ancient mameluk palace in Aleppo, is a master of the qânun
who devotes his time to the treasures of Arab music.
Contact Production – Zamzama Productions – Sabine CHATEL
Tel + 33 1 44 63 00 34 – Fax + 33 1 42 46 22 94 – Mobile + 33 6 11 87 41 76
Email – [email protected] - Sites web – www.zamzama.net - www.alkindi.org
156, boulevard Magenta – F -75010 Paris
SUFISM IN ALEPPO
Aleppo has been an important center for Sufism since the thirteenth century,
when the rulers of the Ayubid dynasty started building Sufi convents (khanaqa) and
lodges (zawiya, pl. zawaiya) as part of their policy of fostering Sunni Islam against
the threat of Ismaili Shi‘ism and the Crusaders. Aleppo was a cultural crossroad due
its geographical location and its function as a trading center to where converged
caravans coming from Anatolia, Iran, Mesopotamia and southern Syria. This
cosmopolitan environment was reflected in the doctrinal and ritual traits of the
Sufism practiced in Aleppo, which fused mystical trends developed in the Arab,
Turkish and Persian religious and cultural contexts.
THE ZAWIYA OF SHEIKH HABBOUSH
Shaykh Habboush inherited his mystical knowledge from his father who was also
a Sufi shaykh. He was initiated in several mystical traditions, but the tariqa
Qadiriyya and the tariqa Rifa‘iyya are the main sources of his mystical teachings
and of the ritual structure of his dhikr. The Rifa‘i influence on shaykh Habboush can
be seen on the presence in his zawiya of the iron skewers used in the performance
of the darab al-shish. While he is entitled by his initiation in the Rifa‘iyya to perform
the darab al-shish in his disciples, he usually prefers other forms of evaluation of
their advance in the mystical path.
Shaykh Habboush, whose charisma is remarkable, knows how to induce in his
listeners the wajd mystical ecstasy; enrapturing them with the beauty of his
singing, the power of his voice and the strength of his performance.
The fact of being both a soloist cantor (mounshid) and a Shaykh is very unusual in
the initiatory traditions of the numerous Syrian Sufi Brotherhoods. The latter are
places of devotion, training and emulation for young singers, and in the same way
Shaykh Habbush, once a week, welcomes his disciples, craftsmen or tradesmen
from the souk, in his home.
Every Wednesday night disciples and followers flock into his zawiya located in the
traditional neighborhood of Bab al-Hadid in the Old City of Aleppo in order to take
part in the dhikr. His zawiya is a large traditional house in the old City of Aleppo, in
the quarter of the wrought-iron craftsmen. Around the ubiquitous central patio and
its fountain, lie the bedrooms of his four wives and twenty-three children. A large
rectangular room covered wiht carpets is devoted to the weekly ritual. A spiritual
concert (samaa) consisting in anashids dinyia (measured songs) and qaçidas and
ibtihals (solo vocal improvisations).
This atmosphere is well known of Julien Weiss. This concert, a project elaborated
by the two men, testifies to the deep friendship they share, sealed by music.
SHEIKH HABBOUSH
He was born in 1957 in a religious and musical family. He is one of the rare chiefs
of the Sufi Brotherhoods whom heredity has enabled to develop his lyrical calling
more than his theological calling. His father chose him from among numerous
brothers, not only for his spiritual leanings but also for the beauty of his voice,
allowing him at the age of ten to study with master Abdel Kader Hadjar. From the
age of sixteen, Ahmed sang in the maouled before becoming a professional
mounshid at twenty. Now thirty-two, he has finally taken over from his father.
Contact Production – Zamzama Productions – Sabine CHATEL
Tel + 33 1 44 63 00 34 – Fax + 33 1 42 46 22 94 – Mobile + 33 6 11 87 41 76
Email – [email protected] - Sites web – www.zamzama.net - www.alkindi.org
156, boulevard Magenta – F -75010 Paris
THE AL-KINDI ENSEMBLE
Founded in 1983 by the French virtuoso of the Arab zither (qânun)
Julien Jalal Eddine Weiss, Al-Kindî is currently rated among the best formations
devoted to classical Arab music, owing to the quality of its interpretations and to
the rigor and respect with which it has built upon the classical musical traditions of
the near and middle east.
The work of Mr Weiss has infused new blood into classical Arab music, and his
faithful audience of connoisseurs is deeply appreciative of the encouragement and
freedom given to the intuitive genius of the great soloist performers who compose
the Ensemble: the Alepo luth player Mohamed Qadri Dalal, the Damas flutist
Ziad Kadi Amin, the Egyptian percussionist Adel Shams el-Din, and the iraqi
joza player Mohamed Gomar Al-Bawi. The qânun player and artistic director is
Julien Jalal Eddine Weiss.
In the company of the best singers from Syria and Iraq, he presents various
repertoires of classical songs, both profane and sacred, thus enabling us to
rediscover the refined, complex musical art of these age-old cultures.
Julien Jalâl Eddine WEISS is French of Swiss and Alsatian origins. He was born in
Paris and was converted to the Muslim faith in 1986. He has become an absolute
expert on the board zither (qânûn), after receiving teaching from masters all over
the Arab world - in Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, the Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. He is both
a soloist and accompanist in his ensemble, the Al-Kindi Ensemble which he founded
in 1983.
In the concert world, his constant search for Arab vocalists to accompany or record,
who are nevertheless unknown in the West, has turned him into a sort of ideal link
between two worlds.
This link has become even more solid since he set up home in a 16th century
Mameluk palace where he organises regular music-room concerts in the old
traditional style.
He travels constantly all over Europe with his illustrious Oriental vocalists - Hussein
al-Azami from Iraq, Sabri Moudallal, Omar Sarmini and Adib Daiykh from Aleppo,
Shaykh Hamza Shakur from Damascus and Lotfi Bushnak from Tunisia.
In 2001 he received the Arts & Letters Award from Catherine Tasca, the Culture
French Minister.
Ziyâd Qâdî AMIN is a flautist from Damascus, a pupil of Abdelsalam Safar and
considered to be the best exponent of the ney (reed flute) in Syria. He has been a
member of the Al-Kindi Ensemble for several years now and takes part in all their
European tours.
DISCOGRAPHY:
Ottoman Fragrances - Arab-Turkish Court Music
Ensemble Al-Kindi
© 2006 – 2CD + booklet – Le chant du Monde
Distrib Harmonia Mundi - CMT 5741414.15
Contact Production – Zamzama Productions – Sabine CHATEL
Tel + 33 1 44 63 00 34 – Fax + 33 1 42 46 22 94 – Mobile + 33 6 11 87 41 76
Email – [email protected] - Sites web – www.zamzama.net - www.alkindi.org
156, boulevard Magenta – F -75010 Paris
Sufi Transe from Aleppo
Sheikh Habboush and the Al-Kindi Ensemble
© 2003 - 2 CD + 56 pages booklet
Le chant du Monde – Distrib. Harmonia Mundi USA
The Crusades seen through the eyes of the Orient
Omar Sarmini and the Al-Kindi Ensemble
Arab music and poetry from the time of the Crusades
© 2001 - 2 CD + 56 pages booklet
Le chant du Monde – Distrib. Harmonia Mundi USA
The Whirling Dervishes of Damascus
Sheikh Hamza Shakkûr and the Al-Kindi Ensemble
Sufi liturgy of the Great Ummayad Mosque
© 1999 - 2 CD + 56 pages booklet
Le chant du Monde – Distrib. Harmonia Mundi USA
The Aleppian Music Room
Sabri Moudallal, Omar Sarmini and the Al-Kindi Ensemble
The Art of Muwashshah, Arabic Classical Chant
© 1998 - 2 CD + booklet – Le chant du Monde
Distrib. Harmonia Mundi US
Contact Production – Zamzama Productions – Sabine CHATEL
Tel + 33 1 44 63 00 34 – Fax + 33 1 42 46 22 94 – Mobile + 33 6 11 87 41 76
Email – [email protected] - Sites web – www.zamzama.net - www.alkindi.org
156, boulevard Magenta – F -75010 Paris
PRESS - SELECTION
SONGLINES - March / April 2004
CD Aleppian sufi Trance - Ensemble Al Kindi with Sheikh Habboush
The current performances are characterised by a deep sence of focused devotion,
notably from Sheikh Habboush, whose voice has an appropriateblend of divine
finesseand rich earthiness. Al Kindi's director, Julien Jalal Eddine Weiss, has always
gathered around him the most revered musicians in Aleppo, a city noted for its
musical traditions. And here the recorded sound of their instruments - percussion,
oud (lute), ney (flute), and qanun (zither) - is sublime, and more refined than on
their previous discs (...) All in all, a release worthy of the hi-fis and coffee tables of
our most discerning readers...
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH - March 2004
The Syrian city of Aleppo is a hotbed of Islamic mystical activity of varying degrees
of strangeness - piercing with knives and skewers and walking over hot coals, as
well as the more regulation ecstatic trances. Yet, while this sort of colourful
religiosity certainly arouses curiosity, do recordings of abstruse ceremonies - of
which there are a great many on the market - make for satisfying, or indeed
interesting, listening? The answer in the case of this sufi trance session is a
resounding yes on both counts. While the singing is exactly what you'd hear if you
dropped in at Sheikh Habboush's meeting place in Aleppo, the musical backing is
provided by a group of Syria's finest instrumental virtuosi. Hollow flute notes waver
and zithers jangle ominously beneath fervent breath-heavy chanting and the
Sheikh's impassioned sung narrations. It has all been carefully recorded in a Paris
studio, yet the sense of devotion is real enough. The Ensemble Al Kindi's recordings
add up to a magnificent survey of Arab classical and devotional music, and this is
both the most austere and the most intense to date. Mark Hudson
THE DAILY STAR - August 2000
Al-Kindi troupe brings tradition back to Baalbeck
Masters of oriental music bring a close to this year's festival
An evening of religious and secular music by the Ensemble Al-Kindî entranced and
invigorated audience members to mark the last performance of this year's Baalbeck
Festival.
Sitting amongst a lavishly decorated stage, draped in oriental rugs, the ensemble
played two sets for a total of two and a half hour. Watching the rigid, technical
expertise of French-born Julien Weiss on the qanoun contributed to the trance-like
atmosphere even more so than the chanting of the vocalists (…)
Weiss demonstrated he is the ensemble's leader not only in name as his
performance on the qanoun established the pace and direction of most songs(…)
Sarmini demonstrated why he's considered by many to be one of the most talented
singers in Syria.
Contact Production – Zamzama Productions – Sabine CHATEL
Tel + 33 1 44 63 00 34 – Fax + 33 1 42 46 22 94 – Mobile + 33 6 11 87 41 76
Email – [email protected] - Sites web – www.zamzama.net - www.alkindi.org
156, boulevard Magenta – F -75010 Paris