SUAL Archives | 2015
Salah Ammo & Peter Gabis — oriental world music-duo
Duration: 45‘28“
Type: Recorded live at SUAL 2015
Credits: Audio recording and editing by BG
Salah Ammo & Peter Gabis
The project was founded in 2013, when Salah Ammo and Peter Gabis met in Vienna. The two musicians are working minimalistic and sensitive, the voice is only accompanied by the Bouzouk (a Syrian long-neck lute) and percussion. The unusual instrumentation which is used by Peter Gabis in parts of the songs enforces the emotional dimension. Besides classical oriental instruments he also plays Hang, gongs, singing bowls and other instruments from all over the world. Salah Ammo contributes his overlapping and broad sense of oriental music. Mixed with Peter Gabis experience in Jazz, World music and overtone singing they create unusual soundscapes and moods. The compositions reflect the openness of the musicians, to combine different styles of many cultures, and to interpret them in a new way. The lyrics go deep, and even when the listeners don’t understand the language, the emotion is transported very well. Salah Ammo lives in Vienna since 2012 because of the situation in his home country Syria. Everything he brought from there was his Bouzouk (a Lute with a long neck), his music, his passion and his musical dream. The touching voice of Salah Ammo is accompanied by the extraordinary and sensitive instrumentation and the overtone-singing of Peter Gabis. The compositions are in Kurdish and Arabic and provide a space for the two musicians for their touching and versatile musical communication. In 2014 the Duo was in the Finale of the ‘Austrian World Music Award’. Their recent CD „Assi“ was nominated for the Best list of the renowned ‘Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik’.
Salah Ammo
Before moving to Damascus to study at the Higher Institute of Music, Salah Ammo lived and grew up in the north of Syria, where Kurds, Arabs, Syrians, Armenians and Assyrians used to live together for thousands of years. He was influenced by the music of these people and their cultures, and gained the experience to present it, especially with his group JOUSSOUR (in English: “Bridges”) which is considered one of the most important bands presented these people’s music. Due to the situation in Syria the musicians of this project spread into all parts of the world. Salah worked at the Music Academy in Homs as a teacher and played in many different musical settings.
Peter Gabis
Peter Gabis is jazz-drummer, percussionist and overtone-singer. He studied jazz drums in Vienna and New York. He is well known as a solid sideman in the vibrant Viennese jazz-scene, played countless concerts and tours in Europe, USA, Australia and Africa. In the past years he focused on ethnic music, meditative soundscapes and overtone singing. Besides about 40 CD productions where he is responsible for a strong rhythmic backbone, he released his solo CD „Rhythms of Silence“ in 2011, with his own compositions for percussion and voice. He teaches jazz drums at the Vienna Conservatory and also gives workshops for Sound-Massage and overtone singing.
[info as of 11/2015]