Siwan was a wonderful concert combining baroque, Moroccan, and electronic jazz. The genius behind this synthesis is Jon Balke. The Moroccan singer is Amina Alaoui, and the musicians were primarily string & bow instruments. The sound evoked moods by drawing upon the sounds of strings that are not constrained to discrete notes. I can't wait for them to make an album of it. Amina has a wonderful singing voice, and the instrument that looked like a viola but was stood upright on the knee and bowed had a sound like a woodwind-string. The harpsichord and the instrument that looked like a giant ukelele that was plucked added sparkle. The drummers used their hands in intricate patterns. The baroque ensemble (6 violins/violas, a bass, a cello, and the harpsichord) played with incredible coordination considering that they were seemingly playing jazz.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=29498 has a review of the show, when they did it in Oslo. CTRL-F to search for "Balke" and you'll find it.
The setting was Grieghallen. It is a big glass and concrete structure that is shaped like a grand piano if seen from the air. It has great acoustics. The inside looks to me as if you are inside a giant piano! The picture I took is blurry, since it was dark inside, but you should be able to see the red things that look like the wooden parts that hit the strings in a piano. There are "hooks" on the walls.
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