LINE UP
Ann Shirley: vocals
Florent Mateo: vocals
Christophe Panzani: saxophone
Pierre Perchaud: guitar
Tony Paeleman: keyboards
Anne Paceo: drums
Samâ refers to a spiritual practice originating from Sufism, involving singing and dancing as a way to express particular inner states and to praise creation.
It reflects joy, abundant life, and nature — all engaged in a perpetual dance. The whirling dervish symbolizes the constant circular motion of the planets and the cycle of life.
Music, then, becomes the sonic expression of the law of the universe, engaged in a perpetual circular movement and transformation that could not exist without a central axis: the sun (symbolizing God), and the planets (all living beings) revolving both around it and around themselves.
“I wrote this piece during a time when I was discovering the poems of Jalal ad-Din Rumi (founder of the order of the whirling dervishes and of Sufism). I was moved by his relationship to life, to death, to the self, and the deep connection to the entire universe that I felt in his writings. The track Samâ is built on layered melodic loops, allowing the musicians to enter a kind of trance.”