Sultans of String are sharing the wealth. In more ways than
one.
"We love to expose people to sounds they might not have
heard before," explains violinist and bandleader Chris McKhool,
summarizing the mission statement of the groundbreaking and acclaimed world
music ensemble. "And we love collaborating with other artists."
Over the past dozen years and six albums, McKhool and his
bandmates - co-founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté, bassist Drew Birston, Cuban
percussionist Rosendo ‘Chendy' Leon and second guitarist Eddie Paton - have
excelled at both. Thrilling listeners around North America with their genre-hopping
fusion of Celtic reels, flamenco, Gypsy jazz, Arabic, Cuban, and South Asian
rhythms, Sultans of String celebrate diversity and creativity with warmth and
virtuosity. And they often do it with artists such as Paddy Moloney and The
Chieftains, Richard Bona, Benoit Bourque (Bottine Souriante), Nikki Yanofsky,
Alex Cuba, Ruben Blades, Crystal Shawanda and Ken Whiteley.
With their historic and visionary seventh album Refuge
(coming in 2020), McKhool and co. bring their unique brand of musical synergy
and collaboration into the studio like never before. Their most ambitious,
diverse, inclusive and passionately political album, Refuge puts the
Toronto-based Sultans face-to-face with a VIP roster of artists from around the
globe - including American banjo master Bela Fleck, Israeli vocalist Yasmin
Levy and others, like Iraqi violinst Imah Al Taha and Iranian santur master
Amir Amiri, who have fled the peril and persecution of their homelands for the
safer shores of North America.
"This is a project that is centred around the positive
contributions of refugees and new immigrants to U.S.A. and Canada," says
McKhool, whose Lebanese grandfather stowed away on a ship bound for North
America a century ago. "We are bringing in special guests that are newcomers
to this land, as well as global talents that have been ambassadors for
peace. We wish to celebrate the
successes of those who make the journey here, and bring their extraordinary
talents with them. We hope that the kinds of conversations we can have as musicians
can provide a model for peace that our politicians and citizens find
inspiration from."
That inspiration could not be summed up more clearly than on
Refuge's gorgeously evocative and powerful first single I Am a Refugee,
co-starring Somali poet and multi-media artist Ifrah Mansour, who now makes her
home in the Twin Cities. "I wrote the poem for me, for my community, and
for those that are yearning for change, those are yearning to deepen their
empathy," explains Mansour. "Writing the poem was a way to unleash
some pain that I could name finally – I wrote it because I was so frustrated
with so many people sending me emails and asking me what I thought about the
travel ban, the first time our American government here shared the first travel
ban. And that an artist's job is to draw that hope, especially in a time of
deep hopelessness."
Like most of the collaborations on Refuge, I Am a Refugee
came to life in the studio, with Sultans of String and their guests composing
and creating together. But no matter how they began, they all ended the same:
With all the artists recording together at Jukasa, a world-class recording
facility on the Six Nations reserve between Toronto and Buffalo.
"We knew we had to do it this way," McKhool
stresses. "We couldn't make an album honouring refugees and do it
long-distance. But having everyone in the room at the same time made it
extremely challenging, both from a logistical and technical standpoint. But the
results certainly made it worthwhile."
Of course, Sultans of String have never taken the easy road.
Since releasing their debut album Luna in 2007, they have continually strived
to make each chart-topping album more original and meaningful than the last.
That includes working with an orchestra (2013's Symphony), teaming with
Pakistani sitarist Anwar Khurshid (2015's Subcontinental Drift) and even
crafting a world-music holiday album (2017's Christmas Caravan), which landed
them on the Billboard charts and the New York Times. Their ambition and work
ethic have garnered them multiple awards and accolades, including three Juno
nominations, first place in the International Songwriting Competition (out of
15,000 entries), three Canadian Folk Music Awards, and countless other honours.
Their live resumé is similarly stellar. Equally at home in a
concert hall, jazz club or festival setting, the Sultans have gigged at the
legendary club Birdland in New York, the renowned Celtic Connections Festival
in the U.K. and the San Jose Jazz Festival. They have performed with symphonies
across Canada and the U.S., and played live on BBC TV, Irish National Radio,
World Cafe and SiriusXM in Washington. No matter the venue, the goal is the
same, McKhool says.
"I've always wanted our concerts to be a place where
everyone feels welcome. I want to reach out to diverse communities to say,
'Come out and enjoy music with us - you're going to have a really good time.'
And it's great to see people from, say, the South Asian community mixed in with
the hipster crowd. Or to play some very small towns where they might not have
heard a sitar played live before. It benefits society as a whole, to have
people from around the world blending their ideas, mixing their cultures."
And sharing the wealth.
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