Cyminology
Per Se

Cymin Samawatie (voc)
Benedikt Jahnel (p)
Ralf Schwarz (b)
Ketan Bhatti (dr)

“Per Se” is the title of the first album of the young Berlin band Cyminology based around the German-Persian singer Cymin Samawatie. It is a play both on the Latin “per se” and the Persian “pars” (meaning “Persian”). Cymin Samawatie (born 1976). She already studied conducting a choir for one year when she was 13. She started music studies in Hanover in 1995. There she studied piano, voice and drums. She has been studying jazz singing at the College of Art in Berlin since the beginning of 2000. Benedikt Jahnel is one of the most innovative pianists of the next generation in the German jazz scene. After initial studies in classical piano, he became interested in jazz piano. He has been studying at the Berlin University of Art since the fall of 2000. He has won numerous prizes including the Studio Prize (German Radio in Cologne). Ralf Schwarz has been studying jazz and jazz-related music at the Bremen College of Art on the instruments double bass and guitar since 2000. He has refined his playing with participation in many workshops and seminars, including with Dieter Ilg. Ketan Bhatti, born in New Delhi, India, has been on tour as drummer and producer of the hiphop-soul band “Star Eye” with artists such as “Sekou” (“Freundeskreis”) and “Seeed”. He has also played as a studio musician, among others, for Jasper van´t Hof’s “Pili Pili”. Jazz and Persian lyrics: this very exciting encounter becomes an event with Cyminology, which not only sound spontaneous and electrifying, but also resounds long after. The pieces were mainly composed by Cymin Samawatie and bring the poems of Hafiz and Omar Khayyam from the 13th century back to life. And it does it – actually something to be expected, but surprising all the same – in Persian, which distinguishes the CD pleasantly from the otherwise mostly English-language releases. In addition to the language, however, the partially oriental melodic movements and the sensitive solos of Benedikt Jahnel are the elements that make this CD an extremely pleasurable listening experience. You never get the impression that these opposites have been wantonly forced together, but instead wonder why this link is not sought more often. The numerous prizes (among others, Möbus-Jazz Award and Jazz & Blues Award), which Cyminology has received over the past two years, are testimonies to the fact that we can expect a lot more from this band in the future. “…Cyminology really provides the optimum possible with respect to innovation as well as playing technique and vocal perfection. But the group’s own compositions and their performance also demonstrate a mastery of music.” (from a concert review in Jazzzeitung, May 2003)