Sangre Del Rio, Six Peaces (1997, 2003)

Sangre Del Rio (1997)

In 1997 the second solo CD Sangre Del Rio was released on its own Norumba Records label (so – named as an antidote to the Diet-flamenco-lite pop/rumba material burgeoning at the time). Building on the free jazz/modern classical/ early flamenco hybrid I was developing on Warning Clothed In Bright Robes Of Dawn, this CD took it in a more flamenco direction.

Six Peaces (2003)

My early oud work is documented on the album Six Peaces, a meditative work with both oud and flamenco guitar. It’s the last time I did any solo work with the flamenco, and so it documents the transition of my focus from one instrument to the other. But while recording the album I discovered these two instruments have a particular affinity for each other, and so I could not ignore the guitar completely.

Six Peaces was recorded at a time of a great first love for the oud (only a few months into it), of a passionate initial immersion into the Islamic Sufi tradition, and of great sorrow at a particularly turbulent time in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Performing and preparing these pieces for the recording therefore brought on a certain meditation – on themes of love, understanding, healing, responsibility, peace in both the internal and global domains, and above all, love of the Divine. These meditations in turn generated six corresponding poetic texts for each of the tracks.

Both CD’s were well acclaimed in the press (see below), particularly Sangre, and they represent a slice of development. While Six Peaces was a popular release at the time, with all hard copies sold out, the oud playing was undeveloped and yet to find a voice fully rooted in its tradition. But a friend recently told me, “never mind the playing, it still has a feel.“.

Sangre is not currently available and Six Peaces is available as download at https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/mustafasd ; a plan to re-release certain selections from both discs as a combined re–master release is in consideration for later this year.

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Some reviews from the original release:

Sangre Del Rio

“Eine mitreißende Tour durch eine andere Welt von Klängen undInspirationen. Flamenco? Ja – aber einmal ganz anders!” (A rousing tour through a different world of sounds and inspiration. Flamenco? Yes – but completely different!”) – Peter Maier, Gitarre Aktuell ,I/98 (No. 60)

“… I have been waiting to hear someone like Dill who plays with the lure and percussive attack of flamenco and the atonal and abstract styles of modern non-idiomatic improvisers. In Dill’s playing, hybrid chords become indistinguishable from tone clusters and compas undetectable within improvised rhythms….The world should be truly excited to be graced by such an exciting new guitarist.” Tom Pratt, Signal To Noise, May/June 1999 (No. 11)

“Dill’s playing is very quick, fluent, and highly accomplished, at times generating some beautifully rich and powerful textures inspired by the high drama of flamenco…stimulating”. Geoff Cox, Classical Guitar (England), June 1998

“Very much in the flamenco vein …while displaying a sometimes delicate and sometimes turbulent style. Yet his emotional playing has all the elements of what creative improvised music is all about….unquestionably an exceptional performance.” Cadence, April 1998 (Vol 24 No. 4)

“While it’s an oversimplification to describe these freeimprov/flamenco fusions as’Derek Bailey goes to Spain’, Dill’s evocative solo nylon stringpieces are an ear-stretching hybrid of Bailey’s stark pointillism and traditional flamenco gestures….full of delicate dynamic shading and poignant silences. Soulful and innovative.” Joe Gore, Guitar Player, May 1998

” The work of guitarist Stefan Dill is as daring as it is ambitious and satisfying. …These are tensions which propel the music – beyond hearing , which is what it ultimately aspires to- is all to do with the delivering of not just sound, but of a pure experience”. Loretta Summers, World Beat (England), no 6 (April/May 1998)

“..Dill offerierte dem Publikum Flamenco auf hohem Niveau. Dabei sprengte er Form arbeitet mit Dissonanzen und Distanz schaffenden Brüchen. Der Zuhörer hatte mit unter eine Wüste New Mexicos vor Augen,verlassene Pueblos, herumgewehtes Gestrüpp und Müll. Dann fand Dill aber auch immer wieder den Weg zur schönen Melodie, zur wunderbaren Blume, die hinter dem Autowrack blüht. Größere formale Strege täte allerdings seinen Kompositionen güt. “

(…Dill offered the audience flamenco at a high level. He blew up forms with dissonance and distance-creating breaks. The listener saw New Mexico under the desert, deserted pueblos, brushwood and garbage. Then Dill always found the way to the beautiful melody, to the wonderful flower that blooms behind the car wreck… However, greater formal ambition would do his compositions good). Lothar Zygar, Neue Westfälische, 28 September 1998 (review of Paderborn Gittarenfest performance)

Six Peaces (only known review)

“Stunning artistry once more on display by free jazz and flamenco fusion master of the guitar and oud, Mustafa Stefan Dill. His previous album in a trio setting Run For Heaven (see review) was cathartic for tired ears bored by contemporary mainstream offerings. Now Stefan digs even deeper to unearth some fundamentals about jazz, flamenco, spirituality and life itself.

At moments you are listening to an acoustic Jimmy Page intro, at others it is Paco de Lucia or John McLaughlin ripping across Aolean landscapes, but all the time you are listening to a supreme musician, who is passionate about their musical niche and the faith that gives them their creative energy. ” Julian Derry, JMA, Nov 2003

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