Just Leave It All Behind: Beauty in a Time of War

Three years after their debut recording In the Wake of Memories, Volker Lankow, Wassim Mukdad, and David Rothenberg went back into Studio Wong to reflecton the power of beauty in a time of war, musically and spiritually. Wassim Mukdad is an oud master and doctor from Syria. He was an activist, he escaped the regime where he was captured and tortured, made his way to Germany, where he has a fine career as a musician. And he was also an important witness in a case against the man who tortured him in one of the rare instances of post conflict justice Anwar Raslan was sentenced to life in prison. Volker Lankow has worked for many years for Doctors Without Borders, and his percussion playing and ambient music is a direct response to all the violence he has seen in Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Sudan. David Rothenberg, known for his live music with birds, whales, and landscapes joins these two courageous human rights workers and musical artists to create a timeless music blending the world’s traiditions and improvisation in a belief that art can help us get beyond the darkest impulses of humanity. More than ever, music is necessary in this time of war.
Wassim Mukdad, oud
David Rothenberg, clarinet and bass clarinet
Volker Lankow, percussion
Recorded at Studio Wong, Berlin, May 2022
Engineer: Max Möhler
Video directed by Ville Tanttu
Wassim Mukdad, oud
David Rothenberg, clarinet and bass clarinet
Volker Lankow, percussion
Mixed by Dave Cook
Produced by Christopher Nolan for Clermont Music
To be released November 3rd, 2023