Azadoota

Azadoota
The band performing for a video clip in 2018
Background information
Origin Sydney, Australia
Genres
Years active 1996–present
Labels
Independent label
Website www.azadoota.com
Members
  • Robin Zirwanda
  • Daniel Dydey
  • Stuart Vandegraaff
  • Paris Freed
  • Emilio Palazzolo

Azadoota is an Assyrian Australian worldbeat band formed in 1996 in Sydney, Australia that fuses traditional Assyrian pop and folk with Latin music. Its founder, Robin Zirwanda, the band's percussionist and lead singer, writes and sings the songs in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic. The name of the band Azadoota means 'freedom' in the Assyrian language.[1]

Zirwanda is the only ethnic Assyrian member in the band, with the rest mainly being of European or mixed descent. Represented by traditional costumes worn in the ancient Assyrian royal court, Azadoota is one of the few professional bands in the world that performs in the Assyrian language, and is the only Assyrian act to target their presentations specifically to mainstream audiences.[2]

History

Azadoota's lead singer and founder, Robin Haider Zirwanda, was born in Iraq in 1954. He migrated to Australia unaccompanied in 1971 when he was 17 years old with a guitar and a suitcase, not knowing a word in English. After his family arrived, they settled in Arnhem Land in the town of Nhulunbuy. Zirwanda then joined a band and formed a close bond with the indigenous community there. After relocating to Sydney in the late 1980s, he worked as a percussionist in the cabaret scene and also with original bands on the pub circuit. In 1986, Zirwanda played with American folk singer Don McLean as his percussionist in McLean's 3-month Australian tour.

In the early 1990s, the rising prominent of world music inspired Robin to create his own music in his native Aramaic language. Even though Zirwanda wrote lyrics in Assyrian, his music was strongly influenced by the styles he’d been performing as a percussionist earlier in his career, and this became the foundation for Azadoota. In 1996, the band was formed, with its first gig being held in Byron Bay, NSW. To proceed, the band purchased a second hand van from Parramatta Road to drive to their gig in Byron Bay.[3]

They released the album “Planetarian” in 2008 and “Beyond Bridges” in 2011. Their recent songs “Lishana (Jesus Spoke My Language)”, “Mazreta” (Spinning Top) and “Unity” are a plea for Assyrians in the western world to protect their heritage in order to secure their future. “Lishana” ("language"), which came out in 2015, became a moderate success among the Assyrians in the diaspora.[2]

Concerts

The band has regularly performed at a diverse range of venues, from the smallest bush halls and pubs to the most well-known festivals.[1] Azadoota has most notably performed at WOMADelaide in 2014 and Woodford Folk Festival in 2016, which drew in unsuspecting listeners due to the band's theatrical musicality, band's ethnic rhythms, and the mystical sounds of the ancient language. Ever since its inception, the band has occasionally performed in the Assyrian new year festival in Fairfield Showground in Sydney each April, which typically draws 10,000 revellers.[4]

Musical style

The band makes use of a horn section, rhythm guitar, brass instruments, guira and tambourine, usually on a merengue groove. The band may also use rhythms of Assyrian folk music (each associated with folk-dance moves), whilst presenting them in contemporary arrangements. Robin Zirwanda fronts the band with timbales and doumbek, usually switching casually from Cuban rhythms to those of his ethnicity. With a four decade age gap between youngest and oldest members in the band, Azadoota’s music spans genres and generations, with diverse music styles – from percussive-heavy dance tunes inspired by Caribbean music genres, funk, folk rock, jazz fusion and reggae, to sentimental ballads.[2]

According to the band's lead singer, the horn section indicates a revival of Assyrian culture and a resistance of the destruction occurring in their ancestral lands. Azadoota performs in attire inspired by their ancient royal ancestors, such as Ashurbanipal, Ashurnasirpal I and Nebuchadnezzar – which would showcase a flamboyant sight and also inspires discussion on themes of Assyrian heritage, musical history and cultural continuity.[2]

The band performs original Assyrian music which the members describe as "contemporary Assyrian dance-rock worldbeat".[2] The band's front man Zirwanda cites Youssou N'Dour, Salif Keita and Santana as his influence. Triple J likens their musical style to Shakira and The Cat Empire.[3] Zirwanda has oftentimes been assisted by his father Awimalk Haider with the songwriting because of his advanced knowledge in Assyrian grammar and vocabulary.[5]

Band members

The band performing at WOMADelaide in Adelaide, 2014, with extra backup singer Tatyana Dunlop.

Artists listed below have casually filled in the spots of the above members, were past members, or have simply served as additional musicians for the band in the past or present:

  • Murat Kucukarslan and Ben Wild – bass guitar
  • Vashti Sivell – piano
  • Tatyana Dunlop – backing vocals and keyboard
  • Chris Fields and Steve Marin – drums
  • Ben Samuels – sax and clarinet
  • Nick Ciccarelli and Marty Farrugia – trumpets
  • Nick Ujhazy – guitar

Discography

Albums

Singles

  • Lishana (Jesus Spoke My Language) (2015)
  • Mazreta (2017)
  • Unity (2018)

References

  1. 1 2 Azadoota musicians
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Picatic - Azadoota
  3. 1 2 Azadoota - Triple J
  4. ↑ Community Radio’s Australian Music Catalogue and Distribution Service
  5. ↑ Two of us: Robin Zirwanda and Awimalk Haider by Sydney Morning Herald, Nina Karnikowski, 25 August 2012
  6. ↑ Azadoota (2011), Beyond Bridges, Azadoota, retrieved 1 February 2018
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