Our first guest is Gerard Kurkdjian : author – musician – lecturer – artistic director who has just published “ Night Raga », published by Spinelle.
Of Armenian origin and passionate about oriental traditions, Gerard Kurkdjian has had a career as a musician, artistic director and producer for twenty-five years. He has been the artistic director of many world music festivals, including the Yerevan World Music Festival in Armenia and, in Morocco, the Fez Festival of Sacred Music of the World, of which he was one of the co- founders and the artistic director since its creation in 1994 until 2009.
Gérard Kurkdjian is also a musician, initiator of creations where poems and texts of the great mystical paths intersect with the musical traditions of the West and the East, (Caravanes de Lunes – La Nuit Suprême – L’Oraison Funèbre d’Henriette d’ England – The Firebird – Mystical Travelers – The Flowers of Evil – Shruti – The Songs of Isis, Water of Life), author, lecturer, narrator, producer of radio programs, organizer of conferences : all of Gérard Kurkdjian’s work is centered on an ecumenical and transversal vision of the arts and cultures of the planet.
A recognized specialist in world sacred music, he has created and directed several music festivals. He is one of the founders of the Fez Festival of Sacred Music of the World, of which he was the artistic director from its creation in 1994 to 2009.
Author of the “Great Book of Sacred Music of the World”, the first work to bring together in a single volume and under a single pen all the traditions of sacred music, he published, “ Musical Meditation: how to meditate with the most beautiful music in the world “. In addition to a general reflection on the nature of music and its place in our society, he has devised an entirely original form of meditation, in which purely contemplative listening to the music of the planet becomes a true spiritual exercise. He is also the author of a collection of poetry: “Abeilles de l’Indicible” and a novel: “Raga de Nuit – Passion sur le Gange”.
Gerard Kurkdjian accompanies spiritually oriented trips with the agency Voyages Intérieurs.
Publications :
– The Great Book of Sacred Music of the World (Albin Michel 2016)
– Musical Meditation: how to meditate with the most beautiful music in the world (Dervy 2019)
– Bees of the Unspeakable (Editions Spinelle 2021) – Poetry
– Night Raga – Passion on the Ganges (Editions Spinelle 2023) – Novel.
In the novel ” night raga » there are 3 heroes: Alexandre the student-musician; Benares, the sacred city of India and the Malkauns raga, one of the oldest ragas in Indian classical music.
Excerpts from the Raga Malkauns broadcast on the show
– Raga Malkauns with Sarod Master Amjad Ali Khan. It is the instrument studied by Alexandre, the hero of the novel video
– Raga Malkauns sung by Amir Khanfrom CD Best of Ustad Amir Khan (EMI) video
– Raga Malkauns by violinist N.Rajan excerpt from his CD: Gayaki on violin video
– History of the Raga Malkauns (wiki).
Then, we receive Nawel Ben Kraïem in the #SessionLive to present the album “I sing a secret”
Nawel Ben Kraiem rejects with faith and vigor any idea of fragmentation. In her art first, because she is a singer, but also an actress and a poet – in 2021, she published her first collection of poetry, “ I harbor a secret”published by Bruno Doucey, to which this album of songs echoes, and the idea of which emerged after its theatrical presentation at the House of Poetry, in a staging by Marcel Bozonnet. I sing a secret is the fifth album produced by the Franco-Tunisian artist, who grew up in Tunis until she was 16 and who now lives in Saint-Denis. Nawel tells us in his exceptionally strong, deep voice, modulated like raï chekhates or imbued with pop tension, that we must not try to break the protective dikes of our feelings and our dreams. The opus contains singing, talking-singing, outspokenness, performance, Patti Smith or Kae Tempest way, opening the floodgates of anger and energy to the point of being scared. Nawel, in song and in words, provides the weapons for inner reconquest. It carries within it multiple identities, diverse lifestyles, lost generations and seeds of the future. I sing a secret is logically musically hybrid, coated with electronics, anger, atmospheres nourished by the energy of raï or melancholy organs. Co-produced with his sidekick Nassim Koutiguitarist and arranger and the Londoner Tim Whelan of the underground electro-world fusion group Transglobal, the album was mixed by Mitch Olivier (Bashung, M..), an obvious choice for an artist who has been seen opening for Susheela Raman or Natacha Atlas, structured on vibrant lyrics and electric music.
Titles performed at the big studio
– Childhood (for Idir) Live RFI see the clip
– Echtah, excerpt from the album see the clip
– My regionLive RFI sound clip.
Line Up : Nawel Ben Kraiem, guitar-voice; Nassim Koutiguitarist and arranger.
Sound: Mathias Taylor & Benoit Letirant.
► album I sing a secret (Nownaw/MAD/Pias 2022)
►album release concert, March 31, 2023, La Bellevilloise, Paris.