The Al-Kindî Ensemble, 
Founded in 1983 by the French virtuoso of Arab zither (qânûn, or kanoun)) Julien Jâlal Eddine Weiss, resides in Aleppo, the capital of northern Syria and a stopping place on the Famous Silk Road. Al-Kindi is currently rated among the best formations devoted to classical Arab music, owing to the musical qualities displayed by its performers, and to the high standard of its work, steeped in the various 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 Aleppo lute player Mohamed Qadri Dalal, the Damas ney (flute) player 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. 

Along with singers from Syria and Iraq who are held in the highest esteem, this ensemble presents various repertoires of classical Arab Profan and Sacred Chant, enabling us to rediscover the riches and refinement of th art of these age-old cultures.

Sheikh Hamza Shâkkûr,
If properly lived out, Islam is a religion that preaches a message of clemency and mercy, beauty and harmony. The spiritual power emanating from Sheikh Hamza Shakkûr's songs draws us into the mystical tradition of Islam embodied in Sufism.

Born in Damascus in 1947, he is a muqri (Koran reader) and a munshid (hymnodist). He is the disciple of Saïd Farhat and Tawfiq al-Munajjid; his task is to assure the continuity of the repertory proper to the Mawlawiya order. He is the choir master of the Munshiddin of the Great Mosque in Damascus and serves at official religious ceremonies in Syria, where he is immensely popular. Sheikh Hamza is an impressivley large, charismatic figure. His bass voice with its richly rounded timbre has made him one of the foremost perfomers of Arab vocal music. His art is uncompromisingly sober and introverted, to the exclusion of all affectation. He develops his improvisations within the framework of a centuries-old modal art, where orison blends with dance, and prayer with art.

The Islam he represents, far from being fundamentalist, is that of mysticism and happiness in the Faith. Replying to his soaring, powerful invocations to God, the musicians of the Al-Kindi Ensemble alternate subtle flourishes and arabesques with refined preludes, whilst the dervishes whirl on stage following an immemorial devotional ritual. 

This is how proceeds this splendid and spell-binding event, this truly spiritual concert, this session of Sama' - spiritual listening - where the only distraction from our state of bliss is the rustling of the dervishes'robes.

TrackList:

Tartîl Du Coran , Taqsîm Nây En Bayyâtî (04:16) 
Wasla En Sabâ (22:18) 
Wasla En Bayyâtî (23:23) 
Meditation (11:06)