CONCERT CALENDAR

2010 has been eventful so far. Edward's new CD RAGMAKAM has been published and acclaimed. Edward's group "RAGMAKAM ENSEMBLE" has been enjoying numerous Live performances in Europe.

Edward spent the month of May in Cairo collaborating with fine Arab musicians: Mohammed Antar and Wael Al-Sayyid... a very fruitful stay in which the trio (Sharqstan Ensemble) performed several concerts and recorded several tracks which will appear on Edward's upcoming album "SHARQ".

"Ragmakam" (2007-9) ...this CD is one of a kind. This recording reveals a successful musical experiment previously never attempted or perhaps conceived of: the compositional marriage between Hindustani Ragas and Ottoman Makams. Furthermore on this recording Edward plays exclusively his self-creation/invention: the Ragmakamtar which combines the sarod, the oud, and the fretless guitar in one instrument. Featured on this recording are world renowned Turkish and Indian classical musicians.

Upcoming CD SHARQ will consist of brand new material recorded in Cairo, May 2010. The remaining tracks will be recently finished tracks that were originally intended to be on CDs: SPIRITDANCE, BLUESAND, and GURUGROOVE. The result is expected to be an album of variety and depth, hopefully released before then end of 2010.

Edward met ney player Mohammed Antar while in Cairo 2009. The two musicians decided to collaborate and this decision resulted in Edward spending the entire month of May in Cairo. Edward, Mohammed, and percussionist Wael Al-Sayyid performed several concerts and recorded original compositions. The original plan was to create and release a CD entitled SHARQSTAN, however subsequent differences in artistic direction have lead to disagreements and a disbanding of the project. The three original compositions of Edward's which were recorded will be part of Edward's upcoming album "SHARQ".

RAGMAKAM ENSEMBLE is a "one of a kind" group. After 20 years of travelling and studying in the Orient, Edward formed the group as a vehicle for the performance of his experimental compositions. The current group is based in the Czech Republic and consists of instruments such as: Edward's "ragmakamtar" [an instrument Edward designed and built himself which is a combination of an Indian Sarod, a Turkish Oud, and a Fretless Guitar], "Cello", "Oriental Percussion".

"Ragmakamtar version #6" ...is an improvement and refinement over version #5 (which was a dramatic departure from the previous design). This version has a large rounded back made of papier mache (!), and has an large amount of soundboard surface area in order to allow both bridges ample space to resonate. Previous version of the ragmakamtar have suffered in the midrange register so therefore it finally became appearant that in order to get a deep sound out of an extremely string-stressed soundboard - the only way is to make it very large.

At the present moment Edward is (slowly) working on Ragmakamtar version #7 which will be similar to #6 except that the entire body will be made of wood. Also the sarod neck will be on the bottom and the oud neck on the top -