Lamekan Ensemble, directed by Belgian musicologist and oud player Tristan Driessens, has been a breath of fresh air for the music of the Ottoman Empire since more than a decade now. After releasing three albums and performing at major venues in Europe, the Middle-East and Central Asia, the sextet is back with a brand new album. The ensemble invited ney master, director and Unesco artist Kudsi Erguner to create a project focusing on the renewal of the ceremonial music of the whirling dervishes. The result is an album celebrating Sufi music and poetry in their purest form, rearranged in a new way in order to offer a unique listening experience to Sufi music lovers. To the spiritual Sufis of Konya, the sound of the ney flute symbolizes the soul separated from the Divine. This reed flute therefore plays a crucial role in their music; it brings both listener and performer closer to liberating ecstasy.
