Souren Baronian – The Middle Eastern Soul of Carlee Records [RSD22]

The Middle Eastern Soul of Carlee Records collects the early works of Baronian who’s probably best known as a key contributor on John Berberian’s Middle Eastern Rock. Over three LPs this set includes his early 50s work with the Nor-Ikes, and his early 70s albums Hye Inspiration and Middle Eastern Soul. This monster is a barrage of middle eastern clarinet, oud, dumbek, kanun, sax, tambourine, wild percussion, and kaval, along with finger cymbals and the occasional vocal from some of his favorite belly dancers. Still performing at 91 with his group Taksim, Souren Baronian is a living legend and he was nice enough to let us raid his tape archive!.