Ochilbek Matchonov

Music from Central Asia Uzbekistan on the Silk Road

ARC Music - 2005
EUCD1946 d

Tracks:

1. Unrequited Love - 4:27

2. The Legend of a Life - 4:21

3. Be a Man - 3:30

4. The Soul Aches - 3:51

5. Resigned Love - 5:20

6. Think how to Live - 3:11

7. Thanks be to God - 39:41

Total playing time: 64:25

Traditional music from the fabled country of Uzbekistan at the mid-point of the
ancient Silk Road in Central Asia. Vocals, tar (lute), tanbur (lute), surnay
(oboe), gijjak (fiddle), chang (dulcimer), doira (drum). Extensive information
about the artist, the instruments and each of the pieces in English, German, French
and Spanish.

Licensed from a small Uzbek label, this album of blind singer Ochilbek Matchonov is
surprising in its range and execution. Matchonov plays an instrument or two, but
the instrumental portion is largely handled by a set of five musicians providing a
particularly dense layer of sound behind him. The interplay between the double
clarinet and the arsenal of strings (dotar, ghijak, tanbur) is similar to much of
the music of the central steppes, but with more energy and complexity than, for
example, the Uighur or the Mongols. Many of the same elements are present, but the
tempo is kicked up a notch and the use of counterpoint and interlocking melodies is
nearly perfected. Over the top of this wall of sound is Matchonov and his vocals.
The vocals are sometimes on and sometimes off, but for the most part can hold their
own with similar stylists. There are elements of the Mongolian long song and Sufi
singing (not quite qawwali, but there are shared features), as well as more local
Uzbek motives. Matchonov's voice is emotive to the extreme, and for the most part
remarkably clear. While certainly worth a listen for preexisting fans of central
Asian music, this album may also provide an inroad for intrepid new explorers
looking for a musical point of entry into the region. ~ Adam Greenberg, All Music
Guide

http://www.classicmusic.uz/index.htm