music from the middle east

The 3rd album originally released in 1966 on Roulette. Middle East ethnicity from New York City a long time before the hyped World Music movement. John Berberian, an accomplished oud player and a student in Business Studies at Columbia University in the mid-60s, gathered around him a troop of skilled musicians to perform the music of his forefathers. With a foundation of traditional music from Turkey, Armenia, Greece, Arabia and North Africa, they created a captivating blend of exotic rhythms, melodies and improvisations transporting the listener to bustling bazaars and scorched sands.