The Light of East Ensemble

CD Release, Tonight – Mar. 13

Aeolian Hall

****/4

Fans of London’s The Light of East Ensemble finally have a chance to take some of their exotic sounds home. The London world music group releases its debut CD tonight at Aeolian Hall.

Beyond Our Shores is a collection of eight of Light of East Ensemble’s most memorable tunes – the ones you may recall if you caught them live at Home County Folk Festival or Sunfest.

The group specializes in music from the near and far east, played on clarinet (Copper Ferreira), flute (Jennifer Baetz-Chester), violin (Mary Ashton), double bass (Steve Clark), percussion (Joel Jacobs) and led by oud and bouzouki player Panayiotis Giannarapis.

This is no upbeat Middle Eastern pop CD. Instead, the disc offers traditional instrumental sounds from places like Egypt, Greece and Turkey. The music is hypnotic, introspective and in some places surprisingly melancholy.

It is also not a simple carbon copy of what has come before. Light of East Ensemble’s members all come from different musical backgrounds and bring their own traditions into the mix – Clark’s bass lines reveal his jazz roots, while Ashton’s violin playing works despite lacking the hard percussive edge common to Middle Eastern string players.

The recording itself captures the intimacy and emotion of the music, finding the right balance between each instrument during ensemble playing and allowing each musician to shine during solos.

CBC Radio has been waiting for Light of East Ensemble to produce a CD. They won’t be disappointed by Beyond Our Shores, and if you are in the mood for some new musical flavours, neither will you.

Nicole Laidler is The Beat’s print editor. She spent several winters in southern Crete listening to Libyan radio.