“Ode à la Terre” brings together Sufi, Inuit, and First Nations musical traditions in a layered, collaborative piece rooted in respect for land and ancestry. Composed by Katia Makdissi-Warren and featured on OktoEcho’s 2022 album Transcestral (Analekta), the track blends Arabic-language vocal lines with Indigenous singing and drumming. Moroccan-Portuguese Sufi vocalist Anouar Barrada, the Buffalo Hat Singers (pow-wow drummers), and Inuit throat singer Nina Segalowitz all contribute distinct vocal traditions, supported by oud, low drones, and sparse percussion. The result is a structured, ritual-like composition shaped by rhythmic cycles and tonal shifts rather than melody or harmony in the Western sense.

OktoEcho’s approach is about creating a musical space where each tradition holds weight. The ensemble’s longstanding focus on intercultural composition is evident here: Arabic chant and Indigenous syllabics are set in dialogue, moving between contrast and convergence. The track works both as an artistic gesture and a reflection on land as a shared, inherited responsibility. Through this piece, Makdissi-Warren and her collaborators invoke a planetary lineage, one where sonic traditions act as vessels for ecological empathy and cross-cultural kinship.

You can purchase a copy of Transcestral, the album from which “Ode à la terre” is taken HERE