Call of the mountain is based on the ancient melodies and mysterious dances of the Meron celebrations. Mount Meron is the burial place of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai who is considered to be the author of "Sefer Hazohar", which is the basis of the Kabbala.
This is a story of the evolvement of a unique local klezmar culture that brings together religons and beliefs, east and west, the old and the new.
Eyal Sela and Darma paint with an enchanted brush the magical melodies of the ancient world in fresh and intriguing hues. They combine acoustic and electronic music, giving the project an air of ambient and chill out music.
The Meron festivities had a cosmopolitan nature and attracted Jews of many origins as well as Arabs, Druze and Circassians from the Galilee. It was a varied festival of dancing and singing,playing music and lighting bonfires.
The repertoire tht evolved around the Meron festivites is unique and is not part of any other genre. Allthough tied to eastern European klezmer music, it's uniqueness stems from the influence and mix of local cultures in Israel. Melodies originating in Romania and Bulgaria as well as others that typify the many communities of the Jewish diaspora in Europe blended together with Turkish, Greek, Arab and Druze melodies. Added to these were traditional Sphardic melodies. the result was the creation of "world music" about 150 years before this term was born.
Call of the mountain transports the melodis of Meron from the old world music into the contemporary one, painting the old magical tunes with bold and vibrant new colors.
in addition to acoustic instuments (Turkish clarinet, Zurna, oud, kemenche, baglama, bass and percussion)Darma introduces the integration of electronic music created by three diffrent artists.