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Artists:
Annabelle Chvostek
Eliana Cuevas
Veda Hille
Tamara Nile
Mariam Matossian
Barb Jungr
John Millard
   and Happy Day
Maza Meze
Maryem Tollar
Mother of Pearl:
   SheBOP!
Flying Bulgar
   Klezmer Band
Zeellia

Contact:
Gary Cristall
PO Box 21547
1424 Commercial Dr
Vancouver BC
V5L 5G2

Phone:
1-604-215-9077

Email:
garycristall@telus.net

Music Outside the Box
Sampler CD 2007

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

Artists: Maza Meze

Performer Biographies

Maza Meze web site

Maza Meze brochure (PDF)

"Ancient music is dusted off with remarkable ease by this sprawling Greco-Arabic combo" - Matt Galloway, Now Magazine, Toronto

"Maza Meze's music was so rich that the group's Saturday morning set felt more like a full dinner, dessert and coffee than just a nibble or two". Georgia Straight, Vancouver

"Delightfully unorthodox Greco-Arabic belly-busters" - Tim Perlich, Now Magazine, Toronto

"Gently bubbling, belly-dancing jams beating out of their intriguing Greco-Arabic mix of traditional strings and percussion" - Tim Perlich, Now Magazine, Toronto

Maza Mezé: Tasty Tidbits from the World Music Menu

If only the music people listened to was as diverse as the food they ate---what a world it would be! Maza Mezé is devoted to making that concept a reality. The word Mazais Arabic and the word Mezé is Greek. They both are terms that describe the assortment of appetizers served at the beginning of a meal in those cultures- think babaganoush, a plate of olives, a kebabor twoIn the eastern Mediterranean these dishes tease the palate and either prepare the diner for more substantial fare to come or make up a meal on their own.

Maza Mezé is an assortment of Toronto musicians who love the music of Greece and the Middle East. Some have been born into the culture; others have adopted it. In 1995 they came together to explore traditional music from the region and to create their own original compositions based on that music. They are an eclectic gathering of some of Torontos finest improvisers and innovators. Vocalists Jayne Brown, Jennifer Moore, and Sophia Grigoriadis are accompanied by instrumentalists Ernie Tollar, John Gzowski, Debashis Sinha and Jeff Wilson as well as selected special guests ranging from a belly dancer to a traditional Greek clarinet player. These artists lead double if not triple or quadruple musical lives - bringing their experience in a variety of other bands to Maza Mezé. Their varied musical tastes and abilities allow Maza Mezé to add many exotic flavourings from a dozen genres and traditions to the basic Greek and Middle Eastern repertoire; a dollop of R&B or a hint of Latin perhaps that has taken them to festivals across Canada from Newfoundlands Sound Symposium to the North Country Fair in Joussard, Alberta to a folk music festival in Duncan, BC. In Toronto they have organized an ambitious year round series of concerts that feature special guests - master musicians from as far away as Egypt and as close as Torontos Greek community. In the process they are transforming themselves into an institution devoted to expanding access to superb music for audiences everywhere Maza Mezés four cds feature infectious grooves and lush vocals, with a big helping of melodies and a wide assortment of instruments. After the first CD of traditional songs, Unleavened, the band went on to make 3 more featuring original songs created by every member of the group. Their first CD of original music, Brand New Threads, caught the attention of CBC Records, and the band was invited to become the first world music ensemble ever to be recorded by this prestigious label.

The resulting CD, the Juno nominated Hypnotika, was followed by their latest, Secrets Moon Magic, featuring guest appearances by Trichy Sankaran, John Wyre (of Nexus fame) and autorickshaws Suba Sankaran.

Maza Mezé's longevity and performance experience is a testament to the great music created by this group. With fans across Canada and around the world, Maza Mezé has become the tastiest world music institution Canada has to offer..

Description of Instruments

Baglama
 A miniature lute
Bansuri
 Indian bamboo flute with 6 holes
Def
 Middle Eastern frame drum. Often used alone to accompany singing, particularly Sufi music. It is made with a traditional goat skin or fish skin head on a hardwood shell.
Dumbek
 Arabic drum with hourglass design that produces a high resonance and a deep Doum. It has a large neck inside and out for maximum strength. The head can be made of plastic, fiberskyn, goatskin or fish skin.
Fretless
Electric Guitar
 Made by John Gzowski to accommodate the microtones in Arabic and Greek maqams (scales).
Ney
 Long end-blown cane flute of the Near East, used from Egypt to Persia. The sound is produced by blowing across the sharp edge with pursed lips.
Oud
The oud, predecessor to the European lute, is the ancient and modern lute of the Near East, known from the 7th century. The modern oud has a shorter neck than the European lute. The oud usually has 3 soundholes and no frets. Popular throughout the Middle East, Turkey & Greece.
Qanun
 The qanun is an ancient Asian table harp. The index fin- gers, clad in picks, pluck the strings in groups of three. In the twentieth century, the Turks improved the design by adding tuning keys to alter the pitch of individual strings by eighth or quarter tones, thus facilitating transposition.
Riqq
 Middle Eastern tambourine that has a fish skin or plastic head and brass jingles. Tamboura A Balkan stringed instrument in the long-necked lute family.
Zils

Finger cymbals.

Repertoire Summary

Maza Mezé’s repertoire falls generally into three categories:

1.  GREEK REPERTOIRE:

     Maza Mezé performs songs that belong to a tradition originating in the Greek communities of Asia Minor, primarily around the centres of Smyrna and Constantinople (known today as Izmir, Istanbul, and  Turkey).  The instrumentation, (usually violin, oud, qanun and dumbek), modes, rhythms and vocal style are most closely related to Arabic music, given the historic Islamic influence in that area.

    Maza Mezé also performs a variety of Greek folk songs, from improvisational ‘table songs’ to traditional dance music. These folk songs originate in northern Greece, and are characterized by irregular meters of 7/8 and 9/8.

    Maza Mezé continues to develop its understanding of this music through old recordings, and by working with the songs in the same spirit of improvisation that accompanied their creation.

2.  ARABIC REPERTOIRE:

    Maza Mezé studies and performs a mix of classical folk and popular music from Egypt and Syria.  The instrumentation is based on the qanun, percussion, and often strings and horns. Using the musical resources at hand, Maza Mezé forms its own interpretation of songs using instruments and improvisations that complement the tradition.   In 2001 four members of Maza Mezé studied performance and theory of this music in Cairo, Egypt.

    Saidi music is hypnotic, joyful music from the Upper Nile region.  Here, Maza Mezé brings in contemporary instruments to create organic traditional sounds (ie. we replace the synthesizer so often used in authentic recordings!)

    Other songs derive from the Mowashahat tradition (a tradition that flourished during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in Andalusia, setting Arabic devotional poetry to music using complex rhythms and modes.)  This music has continued through modern compositions in this style, primarily in Aleppo, Syria. Two of Maza Meze’s members have studied this form extensively both in Toronto and in Syria in 1996.

3.  ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS:

    With the launch of its 2nd CD in 2000, "Brand New Threads - Songs from Middle Eastern Canada", Maza Mezé solidified its path in the direction of more original compositions.  "Brand New Threads", and our latest CD "Hypnotika" (recorded and produced by CBC Records, launched Oct 1, 2002) contain original pieces by all band members. The pieces are written in many musical dialects, but share the band’s common fascination and love for the music of the East.

We would be pleased to offer a complete list of songs from each category.