PROG ARCHIVES REVIEWER Michael Neumann
It makes sense that I discovered AZIGZA purely by chance, while recently trolling the Internet. This is a band with the sort of global perspective not often heard before the age of the World Wide Web, and listening to their debut album is like having a passport to a perfumed Middle Eastern oasis, or following the caravan trail across a wind-swept Central Asian plateau.
Never mind the supposed Celtic influence mentioned elsewhere on their pages here at Prog Archives. To me the group looks and sounds more like a post-modern folk ensemble from backwoods Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan, augmented with a fretless bass and lots of electric violins. But in fact they actually hail from an even more exotic cultural outpost: the San Francisco Bay Area, and as a native son in exile I can be excused for making a crack like that.
The six member line-up is for the most part devoted to playing obscure ethnic percussion and allsorts, but make no mistake: this isn’t just another arid exercise in ersatz World Music anthropology. Underneath the colorful wardrobe, and even more arcane instrumentation (kanjeera, djembe, doumbek, and zils), beats a heart of genuine rock ‘n’ roll, strong enough to include an unlikely but energetic LED ZEPPELIN cover: the song "Friends", off the LZ III album.
The music is by turns lush and romantic, or sharp and jagged, but always with enough melodic appeal to sound relaxed and spontaneous even when the time signatures require a scorecard: check out the subtle, daredevil twists and turns of "Zaman". The mood is enhanced by the seductive vocals of Cyoakha Grace... and by some truly beautiful tunes, ranging from the dreamy, ethereal "Petra" (featuring GONG's Daevid Allen as a guest guitarist) to the sinuous Arabian Night groove of "Edallah ya Rashidi", and from there to the more contemporary, guitar-driven Prog sounds of "Remember" and "Glass".
It’s hard to imagine a band like this existing a mere generation ago. But these days, with even the farthest horizon only a mouse-click away, the music of AZIGZA is the perfect companion for intrepid armchair travelers with an ear for esoteric rhythms and melodies.
AMAZON Posted Thursday, June 09, 2005
"Middle-Eastern influenced rock music with impressive electric guitar work merged with sitar, violin and tons of percussion, coupled with Jon Andersonish cosmic lyrics sung passionately by a talented female vocalist, rounded out with acoustic guitar, mandolin, harp and fretless bass and given the polished production job of pop music....I got to see the band play at ProgDay and quickly became a fan. This is one of the poppier, catchier prog albums I've bought in a long while, but don't mistake it for neoprog - there's a lot of instrumental prowess and it doesn't sound like your typical symphonic prog band.
Highlights include a great cover of LED ZEPPELIN's "FRIENDS" and the original "Zaman" (I love the spiraling guitar part that opens the song - this is a band that knows how to write a good hook)....."
review by Bob Eichler — 3-25-03 —
Progressive world.net review
Reviewed by: Marcelo Silveyra, August 2002
The term world music brings to mind several images, among them one of watered-down ethnic music played by incompetent Westerners who seem to be searching for the East's answer to new age. These idiots are usually responsible for taking all the spirit out of the music that they pretend to comprehend, and the end result is beautiful traditional arrangements gone to hell or pale imitations of the music of the world's peoples; all topped by corny titles such as "Whispers From The Wind," "Spirits Of The East," or some other similarly ludicrous phrase. Well, let people who use music as nothing but a background soundtrack for their lives hold on to that rubbish, I'll stick to Azigza instead.
Azigza is a relatively new outfit that embraces what has in recent years been defined as progressive world music; a meshing of prog rock and world music that draws from the trance-like qualities of traditional music and its instinctual energy and surrounds it with a rock veil that makes the result instantly effective and highly interesting. Recognized trailblazers PARANOISE have already been reviewed here by yours truly before, and if that band and Azigza were ever to meet for one night, the result would be unforgettable (hint, hint), as the bands explore the same aural gallery and yet cover different sides of it, thus acquiring their very own identifiable character. In the case of Azigza, the side of the gallery is that of adapting world music and rock in order to produce a cohesive mixture of both, instead of setting unadulterated Moroccan samples against heavy riffs and rearranged traditionalisms.
Does the approach work? It does, and just as well as its "purer" counterpart does. Setting ethnic percussion against original music that sounds as if autochthonous from some distant mountainous desert tribe, and then bringing it up to date through an occasionally aggressive and occasionally atmospheric modernity, Azigza is an album that often brings the listener into an unconscious trance of vibrant dynamism. Add the excellent vocals of Cyoakha Grace, women's answer to ROBERT PLANT, and the album is resounding with an energy and instinctual honesty that is not lost on the listener...
... the band's unique brand of music is indeed enjoyable in its hypnotic quality....however, the music also tends to meander at times, leaving its longest tracks particularly subject to a temporary loss of focus that dampens their otherwise absorbing nature. Even then, the impossibly appealing hypnosis of "Ratzinitza" and "Edallah Ya Rashidi," Grace's stunning vocals on "Zaman," and a ravishing cover of LED ZEPPELIN's "Friends" are sure to make this album a must-have for anyone interested in the development of progressive world music and the enormous potential it holds."
PROG REVIEWER Fishy
Hard to list the music of Azigza under a specific musical genre. Prog ? Not really but a highly original effort in any case. It’s a mixture of progressive rock, classical music, folk with eastern influences and even some fusion. Some prog listeners will find it strange that there’s no keyboards present in the line up but this is no problem at all. The songs are mainly driven by the voice and the stunning violin, viola and cello parts. But also the other instruments are handled very well. The electric guitars, mandolins, sitars are mainly used to support the excellent melodies and barely come to the front unlike the pumping bass lines. The line-up includes 3 percussionist who ad lots of variation in the percussion without getting the focus too much on the percussion. Unlike you could expect with a so many instruments around, the sound is not overblown by too many musical parts playing at the same time. The names of LISA GERARD and even TOYAH come to mind when hearing the gorgeous vocals of Cyoakha Grace but her voice is sounding a lot more eastern and is a delight to listen to especially when she reaches the higher tones. The music is very light and uplifting and suitable to be listened at on a beautiful summer morning. Most songs hold several changes in mood and atmosphere varying from esoteric or dreamy to sensual or even sharp in the up-tempo excerpts. The mysterious sounding tracks are compelling all the way...Sometimes their sound is reminiscent to CURVED AIR while the unledded album of JIMMY PAGE & ROBERT PLANT comes to mind when hearing the magnificent cover version of “friends” a Led Zep track. These similarities are minor, for a first album, this sounds rather unique. If you like to listen to violin, lovely female vocals and you ’ve got an open mind to ethnic music then this album is something for you.
Posted Thursday, August 25, 2005
"Azigza is a good example of a band that would not necessarily self-identify as progressive rock, but has been adopted by a community hungry for new, original, music; in the past two years they have played prog festivals in North Carolina, California, and Seattle. ... the recording quality and mix on the album are excellent. The band has influences of all kinds; Aryeh Frankfurter is an accomplished Celtic violinist, and the band also pulls off the sounds of the Middle-East, Far East and Africa, particularly in the use of proper instrumentation with loads of percussion. The music stays rooted in the rock idiom mainly through the soaring vocals of Cyoakha Grace, who can be both powerful and ethereal. Two highlights are "Ratzinitza" and "Edallah ya Rashidi", traditional Bulgarian (thus, in 7/8) and Egyptian songs interpreted by the band. Also included is an excellent cover of Led Zeppelin's "Friends".
However it is in the creation of new rock music that incorporates all the band's disparate experiences and influences that Azigza manages to transcend most of the mediocrity surrounding them in the prog scene....this studio album is deservedly one of the most acclaimed of the year...review by Sean McFee — 3-30-03 —
The major pitfall facing most progressive rock bands that are heavily influenced by "world music" (by which we generally mean Middle-Eastern, Indian, African, and Native American musics) is that elusive enemy known as "disjointedness". Azigza have deftly avoided this problem, crafting an album that seamlessly meshes some very diverse influences into a hard-hitting rock-based style. The focus of attention might well be the percussion - with three accomplished full-time percussionists playing a very wide variety of instruments, there is always something interesting going on in the rhythm section, helped on by great fretless bass work that, superficially perhaps, brings KOPECKY to mind. A heavy string presence brings in symphonic and Celtic elements, while guitar work, while usually not too forward, still brings a definite rock sound into the fray.
Vocalist Cyoakha Grace is the center of attention for much of the album, and her vocals are excellent: her voice is fairly deep, very smooth, and she effortlessly brings in various world influences (Native American, most notably) into her singing. Indeed, what impresses me most about this music is how seamlessly the various world, trance, and rock influences are woven into the music. The transitions between Celtic and Middle-Eastern sections in the wonderful instrumental "Ratzinitza" seem perfectly natural, for example....a very strong release and comes highly recommended (if you were disappointed by the much-hyped Private Power by PARANOISE, you should definitely check this out!). Brandon Prog Reviewer
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Eetu Pellonpää
Psychedelic Prog Specialist Team
This album was a wonderful surprise to me! I think the LED ZEPPELIN cover song on this album is much better than the original one...This record can also be used as an example, if somebody claims that there's no good progressive music coming out from the United States. ... this is recommended sincerely for everybody who have appeal for such!
AMAZON Posted Friday, August 12, 2005
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