Search - Alim Qasimov :: Love's Deep Ocean

Truly Captures the Qaimov Charisma

Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 05/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Alim Qasimov - Love's Deep OceanI have spent many evenings mesmerized by truly incredible performances during my years as a musician and music lover. But rarely have I been as moved and transfixed as an evening I spent at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago two and a half years ago, when I was privileged so see one of Alim Qasimov's first performances in the US. He is a mesmerizing performer...totally committed to his performances and to the Mugham style of singing, of which he is the foremost proponent. His dramatic gestures resemble nothing so much as the gestures of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan...and when the music begins to really move, he seems almost to levitate. Unfortunately, the first few Qasimov CDs I bought after that concert only hinted at the power for this singer in a live setting. However, the current CD, Love's Deep Ocean comes closer than anything I have yet heard to capturing the unique power of this treasured singer. Qasimov is the greatest representative of the Azerbaijani classical music called Mugham. Mugham, like much other Middle Eastern influenced music, is based on a repertoire of songs passed down throughout the centuries upon which a singer improvises using traditional scales and melodic patterns. The art is a difficult one to master. The lyrics of Mugham songs are often either passionate love songs or spiritual songs influenced by the Sufis...and like the Sufis it is often difficult to separate the secular from the sacred in this music. Qasimov wrings every ounce of emotion from each phrase. At times the voice is so clear and piercing that it sends chills up and down the spine. Other times he is gentle and consoling. I find it impossible not to be deeply moved by this marvelous music, especially the long track Ey Encanlar, which seems to grow in intensity with each new phrase. Qasimov is backed up on this disc by the traditional ensemble of tar (a long necked lute) and kemenche (a spike fiddle). In addition the singer plays a frame drum. The ensemble is expanded on this CD by the inclusion of other instruments not traditionally associated with pure Mugham including the duduk and a version of the clarinet. Qasimov's daughter also sings on many of the tracks. While her voice doesn't not have the power of her father's it is nonetheless very effective. And in the climaxes of the songs, when the two singers reach a unison, the effect is devastating. If you have any interest in music of the world, this CD is an absolute must-have! Qasimov is the only world music singer to take up the fallen mantle of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. And if you ever get the chance to hear him live....run!!! You'll be glad you did."

Incredible - My new favorite!

Muselover | Dayton, OH USA | 05/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe this guy is not better known in the US! He rivals Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in both voice and passion. I have listened to this CD many times in the last few weeks since I received it, and I'm still not tired of it. His daughter sings and plays on some tracks, and her performance is also awe-inspiring. The instrumentalists are very accomplished, as well. There is a pure percussion track on the recording that knocks your socks off! I highly recommend it."

The Master

R. J MOSS | Alice Springs, Australia | 11/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Qasimov sings from unconcern for himself, the heart set free, so to speak. Mugham teachers divided the human voice into low voice, breast voice, middle voice and high voice, and each of these voices had to have range of two and a half octaves, at least. Judge for yourself where Qasimov sits in this field. I have been a devotee of his for close on a decade and this, as noted in other reviews is one, if not the best of his many releases. Throughout, and as always, he caresses his gaval, a one-sided percussion instrument; specially stretched sturgeon's skin over walnut shell ring with small metal rings attched to its interior, a sweet accompaniment to his trills, tremelo and mordants. Referring to the Koran, Qasimov says we should,'live as if we were passed away already. ..Every concert is a trial for me, and every time I die and return to life again and again Spectators come to feel acutely an inimitable breath of eternity.' Few of his CDs are available outside Azerbaijan, indeed outside Baku. Though in Baku, there is a bewildering supply. I went in search of him this year, and though close to his trail in both the moutainous copper-smithing village of Lahic, and the Mugham club in Baku, missed the master on both occasions. There are many fine exponents of this raptuous music. Indeed a fine sampling can be heard on one of the channels of the Azeri airlines inflight service.Thirty-six thousand feet is an appropriate altitude for this heavenly material.Qulu Asgarov is also worth checking out. I was indulged in the fantasia Bath house, in Baku, to another master singing, as we took our post ablution chai, and explaining the text to two avid acolytes; a glorious twenty minutes."