press quotes:

“Spain’s Golden Age, an era of peaceable coexistence and cooperation among Jews, Muslims and Christians during the 9th through 15th centuries, has inspired projects by numerous prominent artists. Some, like the great Catalan viol player Jordi Savall (who will perform at Lincoln Center in May), have tried to recreate sounds of the period. “Provenance,” a program the cellist Maya Beiser presented at Le Poisson Rouge on Wednesday night, proposes a modernday analogue with evocative modern works inspired by historical sources…”
-New York Times

“American cellist Maya Beiser, a founding member of Bang On A Can, has devoted her considerable gifts — a warm, gorgeous tone; a flawless technique; and above all, an intense soulfulness — to the contemporary repertory, and she is responsible for the creation of significant new works for her instrument…All of these pieces showcase the committed expressivity and unabashed emotionalism of Beiser’s playing. The works create an aura of exoticism (in the use of modes and folk instruments associated with the Near and Middle East), have a solo line that sounds freely improvisatory, and a tone that is most often passionately melancholy… The CD should be of interest to fans of virtuoso cello playing, new music, and the fusion of Western classical and world music traditions.”
-allmusic

“No less important than the composers’ sources and inspirations are Beiser’s own interpretations. Although the cello is not a traditional Middle Eastern instrument, she has managed to make it a perfect vehicle for music that is alternately melancholy and ecstatic, haunting and impassioned.”
-Forward.com

“Provenance should be listened in one sitting, from the soft intro to the long, languid, fade on the Plant/Page tune (with melodic phrases coming at the listener from all angles. Is this the sound of peace, of nations reaching across borders to interact on human levels? Maya Beiser certainly believes so – we are better for her optimism and conviction.”
-Step Tempest

“The term ‘rock star’ isn’t really applicable to the world of the cello, but if it was then Maya Beiser would be one… Beiser’s skill with the cello is undeniable – she seems to be able to wrench a wide range of emotions from her instrument, to the point that it sounds like a de facto vocalist (her take on the aforementioned Kashmir is very reminiscent of Robert Plant’s vocal melody). This release should appeal equally to fans of contemporary classical, world music, or really anyone who just enjoys listening to great music performed with equal parts skill and devotion.”
-Gray Flannel Suit

“Using medieval Spain as a jumping off point, Beiser has commissioned a collection of works that celebrate Christian, Jewish, and Muslim musical traditions. The participants frequently interweave stylistic and ethnic boundaries. The results are frequently engaging musical hybrids… A hopeful and tantalizing glimpse at what music-making and, indeed, cultural coexistence, may increasingly look like in the future.”
-Sequenza 21

“I had the great pleasure of first encountering Maya Beiser’s artistry in a live setting…where she gave a searing performance of Michael Gordon’s solo cello piece Industry, and her subsequent contributions to the Bang On A Can All-Stars releases proved to be just as satisfying. As rewarding, however, is this latest collection of solo and ensemble pieces (Beiser accompanied by oud player Bassam Saba, drummer Jerry Marotta, and percussionists Shane Shanahan and Jamey Haddad) by contemporary composers from Armenia, Kurdish Iran, Israel, the US, and the UK.
One of the recording’s major strengths is that all five of the musical works allow the emotive side of Beiser’s playing to come fully to the fore. Her tone is splendidly showcased throughout Kayhan Kalhor’s I Was There where her cello is given ample space to cry and moan poignantly.”
-Textura

“Maya Beiser is the superstar of the new-classical, avant-garde cello. On her latest recording, Provenance, she comes across as a one-woman Kronos Quartet on a peace mission to the Middle East, intertwining new music from Armenia, Kurdistan, Israel, and the United States… Beiser gives voice to the cultural ties among the feuding peoples of the Middle East, inspired by the historic model of medieval Spain, when Muslims, Christians, and Jews together achieved the heights of what we now call Western civilization. Beiser’s wailing cello speaks louder, however, than any history book or political orator.”
-Berkshire Living

For Provenance, Maya has commissioned works by contemporary composers from Armenia, Kurdish Iran, Israel, and the US. The title means ‘origins,’ referring to both Maya’s distinctive personal history and the intertwining cultural traditions that course through this stunning disc. On some selections, the rich-hued sound of Maya’s cello is heard on its own; on others, she’s accompanied by Lebanese-American master musicians Jamey Haddad (percussion) and Bassam Saba (oud), with percussionist Shane Shanahan.

Provenance is inspired by the Golden Age of medieval Spain, when Muslims, Christians and Jews lived together, giving rise to a centuries-long flowering of commerce, culture, art and architecture. Likewise, the Israeli kibbutz in which Maya grew up, at the foothills of the Galilee Mountains, co-existed in harmony with neighboring Muslim and Christian Arab villages. Provenance draws on that experience, celebrating the glory of a multi-religious, multicultural civilization and the hope of lasting peace. Says the cellist, “Provenance outlines a musical landscape in which cultural differences are brought together for the artistic energy they release with each encounter. It embraces co-existence not as an abstract ideal but as a creative necessity.”

The culminating track of Provenance is an inspired version of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir, arranged by Evan Zirporyn for multi-tracked cello and drums. Wrote The New York Times, “[Beiser] brought a muscular swagger to Led Zeppelin’s classic-rock war horse Kashmir… shaping the Arab-inspired melody with sinuous curves.” Kashmir was released on March 30th as a digital single, with drum legend Jerry Marotta, who has recorded with Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, and Peter Gabriel, among many others.

Other tracks on the Proveance CD includes Kayhan Kalhor’s I Was There, based on a melody by the ninth-century Persian Kurdish musician Ziryab, a former slave who became the most influential musician of his time. Armenia’s unique musical tradition is represented by Djivan Gasparian’s haunting Memories. Gasparian is one of Armenia’s greatest living musicians, a virtuoso player of the traditional double-reed Duduk. Mar de Leche (Sea of Milk) by Israeli composer Tamar Muskal draws on an ancient love song in Ladino, the mixture of Hebrew and Spanish spoken by medieval Sephardic Jews, whose music blended Arabic and Jewish traditions. Douglas J. Cuomo, composer of the theme to Sex and the City and the chamber opera Arjuna’s Dilemma, contributes Only Breath. Inspired by a poem by Rumi, it builds slowly from a meditative opening to a virtuosic climax. Kashmir makes a fitting close to this compelling disc.