Bustan Abraham () was an Israeli band playing mostly instrumental music, which existed between 1991 and 2003. Its name means "

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

’s garden"; the reference to the common ancestor of both Jewish and Islamic traditions intending to imply a unifying theme. The band was called a pioneer in the realm of world music.

History

The band was born of jam sessions organized during several months by the qanun player and music promoter Avshalom Farjun, in collaboration with the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

player Taiseer Elias. These sessions brought together musicians with various musical backgrounds such as

Arab music Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also man ...

Turkish music The music of Turkey includes mainly Turkic and Byzantine elements as well as partial influences ranging from Ottoman music, Middle Eastern music and Music of Southeastern Europe, as well as references to more modern European and American popular ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

, western

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

, and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. Eight musicians finally stayed to form Bustan Abraham. They made their debut at the Israeli International Arts Festival. The band was collaborative: each member brought his own ideas and composed part of the repertoire, and although it was composed mainly of

Israeli Jewish Israeli Jews or Jewish Israelis ( he, יהודים ישראלים, translit=Yehudim Yisraelim) are Israeli citizens and nationals who are Jewish through either their Jewish ethnicity and/or their adherence to Judaism. The term also include ...

musicians, two of its members were Palestinians. Thank to this mix, it was perceived as a symbol of bringing the two groups together. The members nevertheless always insisted on the fact that their approach was foremost a musical one. Their aim was to drag from different traditions to create an entirely new music. In the years which followed the signing of the Oslo agreements, the group played in numerous concerts and festivals in Europe, Asia and United States. It also recorded with musicians of different backgrounds, like

Ross Daly Ross Daly (born 29 September 1952 in King's Lynn, Norfolk) is a world musician who specializes in music of the Cretan lyra. Although of Irish people, Irish descent, he has been living on the island of Crete for over 35 years. Biography ...

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the ...

, Keyvan Chemirani and

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

. Their albums generally sold about 25 0000 copies each. Three of Bustan Abraham’s members, ( Taiseer Elias,

Zohar Fresco Zohar Fresco (born 1969) is an Israeli percussionist and composer, specializing on the frame drum. He is known to have created his personal musical technique that combines various styles of playing the frame drum. He is a member of the jazz trio ...

and Nassim Dakwar also performed in trio with a more specifically Arabo-Turkish repertoire, under the name of Zyriab Trio. Taiseer Elias and Miguel Herstein performed in duo under the name White Bird. After

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

became Prime Minister, in 1996, and even more after the beginning of the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...

, in 2000, invitations abroad became scarcer. The band finally disbanded in 2003, as different viewpoints had emerged on the musical direction to take and as several of its musicians were increasingly busy with other projects. Some of its members kept on playing together on an occasional basis and four of them formed a new band at the end of 2011, Bustan Quartet. They performed in festivals in the United States and in Israel.

Members

Permanent members

* Yehuda Siliki - saz, until 1993,

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

as a guest on the album Pictures through the Painted Window * Emmanuel Mann,

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

, until 1999 * Amir Milstein – western

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

* Taiser Elias -

* Miguel Herstein -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

* Nassim Dakwar -

* Avshalom Farjun - qanun * Naor Carmi -

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

, from 1999 on *

- derbouka,

riqq Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...

daf Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...

and

Guest musicians

* Daniela Buchbinder,

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

(Pictures through the Painted Window) * Miranda Elias,

(Pictures through the Painted Window) * Lea Avraham,

(Pictures through the Painted Window) *

laouto The laouto ( el, λαούτο, pl. laouta ) is a long-neck fretted instrument of the lute family, found in Greece and Cyprus, and similar in appearance to the oud. It has four double-strings. It is played in most respects like the oud (plucked w ...

lyra Lyra (; Latin for lyre, from Greek ''λύρα'') is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was ...

rebab The ''rebab'' ( ar, ربابة, ''rabāba'', variously spelled ''rebap'', ''rubob'', ''rebeb'', ''rababa'', ''rabeba'', ''robab'', ''rubab'', ''rebob'', etc) is the name of several related string instruments that independently spread via I ...

(Abadai) * Socrates Sinopoulos,

kemençe Kemenche ( tr, kemençe) or Lyra is a name used for various types of stringed bowed musical instruments originating in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Armenia, Greece, Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. and regions adjacent to the Black ...

(Abadai) * Keyvan Chemirani, zarb (Abadai) *

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

(Fanar) *

bansuri A bansuri is an ancient side blown flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal like material used in Hindustani classical music. It is referred to as ''nadi'' and ''tunava'' in the ''Ri ...

(Fanar) *

Achinoam Nini Achinoam Nini ( he, אחינועם ניני, Aẖinóʿam Nini; born ), also known professionally as Noa (), is an Israeli singer-songwriter, percussionist, poet, composer, and human rights activist working internationally. She is accompanied by ...

aka Noa,

(Fanar) *

Gil Dor Gil Dor ( he, גיל דור, born December 12, 1952) is an Israeli guitar player mostly known for his long term collaboration as accompanist, arranger, producer and co-composer with international concert and recording artist Achinoam Nini, also ...

(Fanar) * Kroitor Emil,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

(Fanar) * Kroitor Alexander,

(Fanar) * Albert Piamenta,

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

(Fanar) * Avraham Salman, qanun, only during concerts

Bustan Quartet

* Emmanuel Mann,

* Amir Milstein -

* Taiser Elias -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Haggai Cohen Milo-

Discography

Bustan Abraham

*''Bustan Abraham'', (1992) *''Pictures through the painted window'', (1994) *''Abadai'', (1996) *''Fanar'', (1997) *''Hamsa'', (2000) *''Ashra'', (2001), compilation released for the tenth anniversary of Bustan Abraham *''Live concerts'', (2003)

Zyriab Trio

* ''Mashreq Classics'', (1996)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bustan Abraham Israeli folk music groups Israeli Jews * Israeli Arab musicians World music groups Jewish musical groups Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 1991 establishments in Israel 2003 disestablishments in Israel

History

Members

Permanent members

Guest musicians

Bustan Quartet

Discography

Bustan Abraham

Zyriab Trio

See also

References

External links