''Where Rivers Meet'' is a studio album by English musicians Zoe and

Idris Rahman Idris Rahman (; born 16 July 1976) is an English clarinettist, saxophonist and record producer. Early life Rahman was born and brought up in Chichester, West Sussex, England by a Bengali father, Mizan Rahman, and an English-Irish mother. His m ...

, released on 22 September 2008 by Manushi Records.

Background

Zoe and

discovered Bengali music in 2002, when their father, Mizan Rahman, was hospitalised and Zoe played 1950s Bengali music for him while he recovered. Zoe became intrigued by the sounds and subsequent trips to Bangladesh allowed her to learn about her background through music. In April 2010, Zoe told ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

'', "We oe and Idris Rahmanwanted to learn about our family heritage by delving into this rich musical source and hope that in the process the songs will be seen in a new light by those who already know them. Perhaps they will take others on a journey of discovery similar to the one we have experienced through making this album." Idris added: "This album represents a very personal journey that Zoe and I have taken into our own culture through music directly taught or recommended by our father, cousins and other close friends and musicians."

Composition

Songs make up about a third of ''Where Rivers Meet'', with the remaining two thirds instrumental. The tunes include three by Bengali Nobel Laureate

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

— "Invitation Missed", "Stream Of Joy" and "Do You Wish To Forget?" The songs were also inspired by Abbasudddin and Hementa Kumar Mukerjee amongst others.

Critical response

John Fordham of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' rated ''Where Rivers Meet'' 3/5 and called the album "...a distinctive, heartfelt and unusual world music venture." John Lusk of ''

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

'' said "It's a slow grower, and a modest rather towering achievement, but give its gentle charms a chance and you may find yourself liking it a whole lot more than you'd expected." Chris May of ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' rated the album 4.5/5 and said, "It's best described as chamber jazz hybridized with Bengali popular music, and is a vibrant affair packed with melodies—some joyful, others sad, all of them intensely pretty—and gorgeously lyrical improvisations." Ian Mann of ''The Jazz Mann'' described it as "A thoroughly enjoyable musical journey. One of the most distinctive releases of the year." Kenny Mathieson of '' The List'' rated 3/5 and said, "The beguiling melodies and richly coloured harmonies combine to form a fascinating, lightly textured hybrid that is part chamber jazz and part Bengali folk-pop music... A distinctly different and always absorbing take on the world jazz phenomenon. ''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'' rated the album 4/5 and said "...Zoe's ahman'sdistinctive piano sounds more comfortable and freewheeling than ever before, rumbling away around the chord changes and providing wonderful texture throughout."

Track listing

Personnel

;Musicians *

Zoe Rahman Zoe Rahman (born 20 January 1971) is an English jazz composer and pianist. Early life Rahman was born and brought up in Chichester, West Sussex, England, by a Bengali father, Mizan Rahman, and an English-Irish mother. Her mother was a doctor w ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

–

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

*Kuljit Bhamra –

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

*Gene Calderazzo –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Oli Hayhurst –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Samy Bishai –

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

;Vocals * Arnob *Gaurob *Joseph Aquilina *Mizan Rahman

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Where Rivers Meet 2008 albums Bengali-language albums Zoe Rahman albums Idris Rahman albums