World Music by Sylvain Paslier, Nassib Bouchebel, Christina Polycarpou, Alaa Alabdallah, Earl Brooks Jr., Qing Du

Nassib Bouchebel (Lebanon) is a soulful and progressive musician. Performing with him feels like telling a story. It's always cozy and yet forever interesting. Thousands of years and kilometers separate the Australian didgeridoo from the Swiss hang. And yet they belong together. Though we met a year ago, it feels we've known each other for 10 years! The first 4 tracks of the album feature Nassib Bouchebel.

Christina Polycarpou (Cyprus) went above and beyond. She made the deliberate choice to study under Ross Daly, the master of her art form. That kind of rigor combined with her lighthearted temperament made her an efficient and reliable partner as we built our own repertoire. Christina patiently taught me tunes never adapted to the handpan before, which produced some of the most sophisticated playing in the album (tracks #5-9).

When I first met Alaa Alabdallah (Syria), we joked at each other's oddly shaped instrument cases. Inside his was a Qanun. I did not know this instrument. The Qanun is an Arabic string instrument which allows to play microtones (notes in-between notes). This kind of intoxicating melodic nuance combined with Alaa's supreme musicianship was completely awe-inspiring. From a quiet whisper to a resounding roar, Alaa's dynamic playing intensified each track. I miss his sound which you can hear on four tracks in this album (tracks #10-13).

If you think handpan sounds magical, wait till you hear Earl Brooks Jr. (Trinidad) on the steel pan — and the combination of both is simply divine.But, even more meaningful than the sound itself, is the unification of two estranged communities. There's too much to say here (Brooks & I will do a podcast episode about it). 7 months together were illuminating. The handpan is indeed part of PAN and owes everything to the original. The next four tracks (#14-17) feature whimsical jams with Brooks.

At over 2,000 years old, the Guzheng is 100x older than the handpan and is deeply embedded in Chinese music tradition. Qing Du's (China) angelic playing is meticulous, lyrical and her stage presence theatrical. These two instruments have so much potential and we only scratched the surface. Of our repertoire, only one tune was recorded. It is the closing track of the album.

Tracklist

1.	Nim-Nim Mâ (ft. Nassib Bouchebel)	4:55

2.	Weneki (ft. Nassib Bouchebel)	5:07

3.	Jungle Book (ft. Nassib Bouchebel)	4:17

4.	Ghost Train (ft. Nassib Bouchebel)	5:09

5.	Pervane (ft. Christina Polycarpou)	5:33

6.	La Valse d’Amélie (ft. Christina Polycarpou)	4:16

7.	Nubar Nubar (ft. Christina Polycarpou)	5:46

8.	Stranded in Istanbul (ft. Christina Polycarpou)	5:09

9.	Wadi (ft. Christina Polycarpou)	5:14

10.	Sa'alouni Al Nas (ft. Alaa Alabdallah)	5:24

11.	Variations in C Minor (ft. Alaa Alabdallah)	3:07

12.	Familiarity (ft. Alaa Alabdallah)	4:04

13.	Al Maya - Diab Mashour Shamra (ft. Alaa Alabdallah)	4:16

14.	Seven Heaven (ft. Earl Brooks Jr.)	5:32

15.	The Search (ft. Earl Brooks Jr.)	7:23

16.	Shang Diao (ft. Earl Brooks Jr.)	5:48

17.	Pan Imagination (ft. Earl Brooks Jr.)	5:57

18.	The Legend of White Snake (ft. Qing Du)	2:24

19.	Outro	0:21

Credits

released September 1, 2022

Sylvain Paslier — PANArt Hang, Gubal & Halo Handpan
Nassib Bouchebel — Australian Didgeridoo, Slide Guitar, Percussion
Christina Polycarpou — Cretan Lyra with Sympathetic Strings
Alaa Alabdallah — Arabic Qanun
Earl Brooks Jr. — Trinidadian Steel Pan
Qing Du — Chinese Guzheng

License