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The shashmaqam is one of the primary styles of court music that flourished in the Silk Road cities of Central Asia: Samarkand, Bukhara, and Tashkent. The roots of Shashmaqam lie in a highly developed tradition of multi-culturalism, where strains of Turkish and Persian classical music were combined over centuries by Tajik, Uzbek, and Jewish performers. With Sufi-inspired texts in the great Persian tradition, ornamental melodies, and a spare and percussive accompaniment, shashmaqam is a profound music of great refinement and poetic beauty that collectively bridged the entire spectrum of the traditional social life of Central Asia, from prayer to dance.

This documentary is part of "Music of Central Asia", a co-production of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia, a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The aim of the series is to present leading exponents of Central Asia's rich and diverse musical heritage to listeners outside the region.

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