Where Rivers Meet
| Where Rivers Meet | ||||
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| Studio album by Zoe Rahman | ||||
| Released | 22 September 2008 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 52:32 | |||
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| Label | Manushi | |||
| Zoe Rahman chronology | ||||
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| Idris Rahman chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Guardian |   |
| All About Jazz |  |
| The List | |
| Metro | |
Where Rivers Meet is a studio album by English musicians Zoe and Idris Rahman, released on 22 September 2008 by Manushi Records.
Zoe and Idris Rahman discovered Bengali music in 2002, when their father, Mizan Rahman, was hospitalised and Zoe had transferred some of his cassette tapes of 1950s Bengali music to CDs for him to listen to while he recuperated. Zoe became intrigued by the sounds and subsequent trips to Bangladesh allowed her to learn about her background through music.
Where Rivers Meet shares a similar title to Where The Rivers Meet, a suite featuring Bengali singers Lucy Rahman and Akah Sultan written for the London multi-cultural big band Grand Union Orchestra.
In April 2010, Zoe told Manchester Evening News "We [Zoe and Idris Rahman] wanted to learn about our family heritage by delving into this rich musical source and hope that in the process the songs will be seen in a new light by those who already know them. Perhaps they will take others on a journey of discovery similar to the one we have experienced through making this album."
Idris added: "This album represents a very personal journey that Zoe and I have taken into our own culture through music directly taught or recommended by our father, cousins and other close friends and musicians. In doing this we have learnt more about our father's background and our Bengali roots and feel a little closer to a culture that we weren't surrounded by when we were growing up… we hope to continue to explore the wealth of artistic achievement that is waiting to be discovered in our father's country."
Songs make up about a third of Where Rivers Meet, with the remaining two thirds instrumental. The tunes include three by Bengali Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore — "Invitation Missed", "Stream Of Joy" and "Do You Wish To Forget?" The songs were also inspired by Abbasudddin and Hementa Kumar Mukerjee amongst others.
John Fordham of The Guardian rated Where Rivers Meet 3/5 and called the album "...a distinctive, heartfelt and unusual world music venture." John Lusk of BBC Music said "It's a slow grower, and a modest rather towering achievement, but give its gentle charms a chance and you may find yourself liking it a whole lot more than you'd expected."
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Wikipedia