“Aphorisms blurs lines between written music and improvised playing,” 

Opener ‘Toska’ is an epic cinematic opener. It’s warm and gentle with oud and violins making for their own little chapters in the overall story. ‘Interlude’ is an absorbing passage of piano, double bass and synth and then ’To Kafranbel’ is nimble and dynamic as keys and oud sounds dance about. ‘Al Baseet’ is another upbeat number with hand claps and oud bringing a nice sense of groove to the Iraqi-style vocals up top, while ‘Shamal’ is a snippet of a long, bass driven studio live jam with claps, djembe and percussion before the pensive pianos of ‘Einsamkeit Impromptu’ round things out in tender fashion.

The artwork for this release is an etching by artist Yaser Safi and will come as 10 limited edition etchings printed at the Berlin Weissensee School of Art. It is a special final touch to a special debut record from this exciting new musical collective.

Written by Raman Khalaf and Khaled Kurbeh
Percussion: Nora Thiele
Double Bass: Tom Berkmann
Percussion & vocals: Moussa Coulibaly
Violin: Ashraf Kateb
Oud and vocals: Raman Khalaf
Piano and synthesizer: Khaled Kurbeh
Mixed by Sam Vine
Mastered by Bo Kondren at Calyx Mastering
Recorded at UFO Studios
Artwork by Yaser Safi
Arabic Calligraphy by Jana Traboulsi
Cover design and layout by Rik Watkinson.
Format: vinyl and digital.
Release Date: 3 November 2017
Order vinyl / download: Bandcamp