Mohammad Syfkhan

I Am Kurdish

Genre: FOLK / ROOTS

LP (Black Vinyl)

Boomkat Product Review:

A magnificent, ecstatic statement of intent and provenance by Kurdish/Syrian singer and bouzouki player Syfkhan arrives on Éire’s excellent Nyahh Records - naturally tipped to fans of Omar Souleyman!

Mohammad Syfkhan’s story is itself intriguing; he began making music in 1980 while studying to be a nurse, and moved to Raqqa when he got his degree in 1983, becoming a professional singer with his own group, The Al-Rabie Band, performing a mix of Kurdish, Arabic Turkish and Western songs at concerts and celebrations across Syria. When war broke out in Syria, 2011, and one of his sons was tragically killed by ISIS, Syfkhan emigrated with his wife and daughter to Ireland, while his other three sons resettled in Germany. He continued to perform in Ireland, a country whose rich heritage of - and love for - music meant he was embraced by local communities, playing to both Kurdish-Syrian and Irish crowds, all spellbound by his messages of love and rooms filled with punters doing joyful Syrian and Kurdish dances. He has since collaborated with Irish musicians Martin Hayes, Cormac Begley, Eimear Reidy, Cathal Roche and Vincent Woods, and notably opened for Lankum to a receptive crowd at Cork Opera House in 2023, before the ace Nyahh Records stepped in to present this, Syfkhan’s enchanting debut international release.

‘I Am Kurdish’ features Syfkhan on bouzouki recording original works in Co.’s Wicklow and Leitrim with Irish artists Eimear Reidy (cello) and Cathal Roche (saxophone). Although originating in Turkey, and notably developed in Greece, the bouzouki also holds ties to Ireland thanks to Johnny Moynihan of folk group Sweeney’s Men, before it was most notably popularised by Donal Lunny of Planxty, who played a form adapted to native folk and rock ,usics. Syfkhan’s bouzouki recordings effectively return the instrument to its source, but in the country that mutated it, performing in a Kurdish folk style recognisable to fans of the dabke sound pinged on the international map by Omar Souleyman. In Sfykhan’s hands songs such as opener ‘Do You Have a Lover or Not?’ resonate from Raqqa to Lisdoonvarna, and ‘I Am Kurdish’ will snag dabke fiends, whilst ‘Put Coffee in the Glass, the Night, You Go!’ and the expressive flourishes of ‘Wasted Years’ recall Omar Khorshid, and ‘Laylim Ley’ closes with perhaps the finest example of how his new home country has inflected his own music.

Remarkable stuff.

LP (Black Vinyl) (8)