The recently-founded Uzbek record label Maqom Soul has made it their mission to compile and revive rare and overlooked music from Central Asia, as well as restore the culturally significant music that has shaped the musical landscape of Central Asia. Maqom Soul’s journey has begun with the release of Yashlik.

Prior to Maqom Soul sharing Yashlik with me, I had been largely unfamiliar with the Uyghur people, so I took the chance to gather some background information on them. The Uyghur people are among one of the oldest Turkic peoples of Central Asia. The first written record of them is from the 3^rd century AD, and Uyghurs are currently found in numerous regions across Asia, with large populations being found in China (especially Xinjiang province) and Kazakhstan, though there are many diaspora groups across the globe.

According to Maqom Soul, Yashlik was originally recorded in 1978 by the Uyghur ensemble of the same name. The band Yashlik was formed in Almaty, present-day Kazakhstan in 1973 with their unique blend of jazz, Soviet Estrada, psychedelic rock, and Uyghur folk melodies.

As someone unfamiliar with the Uyghur people (and even less so with their folk music), I was really excited to dive into Yashlik and explore what Uyghur folk music sounds like! I love diving into something new (to me), unique, and unexpected, so Yashlik is right up my alley! I want to highlight a few tracks from the album that I think are really interesting.

The album opens with the track “Yashlik”, which means youth. The first notes that come forth present a quite jazzy and almost bluesy feel. The guitar reminds me quite heavily of some 90s blues and some licks even remind me of Dire Straits! The male ensemble vocalists in this piece harmonize with each other really well throughout the piece. At some points, I thought it was just a soloist singing, but upon a closer listen, I realized that it was actually multiple people singing! I thought that this opener was a really great introduction to Yashlik and their unique sound.

Following “Yashlik” is “Gozel”, which sounds like a somber ballad. Unfortunately, I do not speak Uyghur, so I’m not sure what they’re singing about, but music speaks for itself. The flautist on this track does a really wonderful job of capturing melancholy on the track, and the strings that accompany the vocals and flute are really emotive as well. I think it’s a really interesting track for a multitude of reasons, one of which being where it was placed on the tracklist. This more somber tune immediately follows the jazzy and bluesy “Yashlik”, which is far more upbeat than “Gozel”. It’s also followed by a much more fast-paced and upbeat song. It’s an interesting energy-level valley on the album.

The final track I want to highlight is “Zhanajym”, which is the third song on the album. It’s far more upbeat than the previous tracks, and I believe it uses more of the traditional Uyghur instruments than the previous couple of songs. The opening features drums and a traditional string instrument. I think the string instrument is either a dombra or a dutar, which are long-necked string instruments, and they look similar to one of the instruments shown in a photo of Yashlik, which was provided by Maqom Soul Records. This song is interesting for a variety of reasons, but the one aspect of this song that sticks out to me the most is how seamlessly the traditional instruments and more modern instruments, like the keys, drums, and guitar, play off each other in this song.

Yashlik delivers a unique sound unlike anything I’ve previously heard. It’s a really fun journey into Central Asian folk music and it’s a really interesting way to see how the USSR and Central Asia saw more Western musical styles and how they implemented them into their own music. Yashlik was a really fun listen, and I would definitely recommend giving it a try if you’re any bit curious about music from Central Asia, the USSR, or Turkic groups or if you enjoy jazz fusions or psychedelic fusions!

You can order yourself a copy of the Yashlik vinyl or listen to the album digitally here, and you can follow Maqom Soul for more releases of music from Central Asia on Bandcamp and Instagram.