“This singing art is sea foam. The graceful movements come from a pearl somewhere on the ocean floor” Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi (1207 – 1273)

Makam New York’s latest project.

The Turkish makam system and the blues originating in the United States are strategies for constructing, composing, and performing melodies. Surfacing from the depths of centuries-old cultural memory, the sounds of these two traditions are all around us, often outside of their formal practice. Though they have distinct qualities and meanings, these four master musicians reveal qualities that make them not only similar but universal.