Al andalus ensemble

Al-Andalus Ensemble is an award-winning husband and wife musical duo that performs contemporary Andalusian music. The ensemble features Tarik Banzi playing oud, ney and darbuka, and Julia Banzi on flamenco guitar.

Tarik Banzi was born in Morocco, and Julia, one of the few well-known female flamenco guitarists, is a native of Denver.

The Al-Andalus Ensemble play both traditional Andalusian music and contemporary works, which draw much of their inspiration from the music of Arabo-Andalusian, Spanish Flamenco, Medieval Spanish, Ladino (Jewish-Spanish) melodies, North African and Arabic rhythms, as well as jazz, Classical, South Indian and Western classical music., with vocals in Spanish, Arabic, Ladino and English to create the musical style which has been labeled "contemporary Andalusian."

They seek to sustain and continue the Andalusian classical music traditions of Tarik's native Morocco and his ancestors' home in Moorish Andalusia. Ted Gioia, author of The History of Jazz, likened Al-Andalus Ensemble's creation of the "contemporary Andalusian" genre to Astor Piazzolla's creation of Nuevo Tango style, essentially saying that both these sets of musicians had revitalized traditional musical styles that were growing stagnant by embracing multicultural influences that allowed them to transform and modernize their traditional music.

Many of the instruments they use in their performance are traditional North African and Middle Eastern instruments: the oud, kamanja, darbuka, tar and rebab, as well as the flamenco cajón, guitar, and palmas and Western instruments such as the flute, saxophone, drum set and piano. Their work is sometimes accompanied by dance performances, including dancers and other world-music specialists.

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