Labyrinth Ontario

Labyrinth Ontario is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the promotion and presentation of traditional Modal music. This music helps develop the way you listen to music that is not the way of traditional western music. For my first time sitting and really listening to this music, I found I had to really focus my attention on the details of each instrument and how they work with the other. It was like learning a new language. I love playing the drums and have a good ear for western sounds. Hearing these sounds that resonate from the Middle East was a new journey into an exotic land and I had to traverse my way through territories I have never been to before. So this review is really my way of saying, I have been to a far-off place and I have a better understanding of what went on, but I have so much more to learn.

Naomi McCaroll-Butler and Sam Shalabi

The setting for this night of intimate music was held at the East End Untied Church at Danforth and Jackman Ave. It was a perfect setting to hold the musical space due to its spiritual qualities.

When the artists were being introduced, it was mentioned that the purpose of what these artists were inviting in, was to enrich the sound culture but introducing a new interim of techniques that create a new and intriguing direction. In, short, how do you take traditional music and expand on it without losing the essence of its properties.

These two artists took to the stage first with a saxophone and an Oud.  So, I settled in and let their journey open up my curious mind.

I heard a calling from afar. It was like soft lonely waves the rippled forth to convey a place of quiet surrender.

After this lengthy ritual took place, it was broken and a new dawn awoke to new possibilities and an urge to explore the unknown. A lot of this music is composed but it also leaves a lot of room for improvisation and exploration. It is like watching a painter create a landscape right in front of you.

Roughly in the middle of this movement, Sam went into an Oud solo, and we sat in front of this sage as he mused experiences he has had in his lifetime and shared some of those with us.

When Naomi re-entered with her sax, it was as if she was comforting him with a sense of warmth and understanding. She became a support system to what he way conveying.

The two of them went into a second piece of music that also started off quiet and a little somber. It didn’t really have a direction at first. It just seemed to wander for a while. The feeling was, warm and dry, as arid as a desert. But this desert was out to try and nourish you with whatever it had. Then came a moment where you can feel a light shining on the constantly shifting sand and it help reveal patterns in the music. That was a comfortable moment.

Once that piece was over, I felt I had been away on some wonderful trip and felt a deeper connection with a culture I knew very little about.

Folios of Iranian Dastgah

Before this 5-piece ensemble began their program, a short introduction was in order. The MC explained to the audience that this band decided to start with their traditional sounds and slowly add a modern edge. It was going to be a piece filled with juxtapositions that would challenge a listener to open their ideas up to new possibilities. Now, isn’t this the way to grow new and exciting sounds for future musicians to be inspired by?

This was going to be a 35-minute piece that will truly engage and challenge every listener.

It did start off with what I feel is their traditional sounds and like how we slowly change the way we breath, we create how we feel and react in this world. As this breath continued to rise and fall, an awakening began to emerge. This new energy took on something pretty grand, and it was looking for ways to radiate brighter and spread itself across the land. Again, I will use my desert imagery. This was now a place where the winds shifted the sand in any direction it wanted, the musicians were definitely in control of the direction. This direction was a constant shift that moved emotionally that rose and fell with the strength of the wind pushing it.

If anyone knows me, I usually like to compare my experiences with a moving river, but there was very little moisture in this sound. It became crystal clear that each note that was played was just another well placed word in this epic journey.

How could I tell? I was watching the drummer on the side as he chose from 3 different drums and decided which one to play. He would pick one up and lightly tap it. You couldn’t hear it. He was listening to the sound and decided which drum would fill this section of the music perfectly.

The piece ended on a dramatic and quick ending that quickly snapped the audience back to reality. The audience rose and a well deserved long standing ovation happened.

So, I just wanted to thank this group personally, because I know you are not household names in the business, but I am sure you are held in high regards with your peers.

Thank You- Araz Salek

Ava Rostamian

Sasan Salaseli

Soheil Sadeghi

and Sadaf Amini

You helped enrich my life and I felt I began to understand a new language.

If you want to learn more about this music simply click this link and begin a journey to the east!

www.labyrinthontario.com

www.instagram.com/labyrinthontario/