Over het album

‘In orbit, you’re keyed up and aware of everything going on, every little noise, anything that may have special meaning because of where you are.’ – John Glenn 

Madar (literally an ‘Orbit’) Ensemble is the fruit of the musical friendship between the Palestinian ud player Nizar Rohana and Dutch bassist Tony Overwater. They invited three prominent musicians from the Arab world and the Netherlands: Dutch clarinet player Maarten Ornstein; Tunisian violinist and viola d'amore player Jasser Haj Youssef and the Jordanian percussionist Nasser Salameh. With genuine curiosity for and understanding of each other’s musical language, they have come together with the purpose of creating something new, built on a deeply shared respect for the qualities of their various musical worlds. 

Acamar, from the Arabic Ākhir an-nahr meaning "the end of the river", is a star located in the constellation Eridanus, variously associated by ancient astronomers with rivers across the Mediterranean and Middle East, including the Nile, Po and Euphrates. The music in this album is inspired by the classical civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean which relied in daily life on an understanding of the cosmos. 

This album was supported by The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC).