Search - Rabih Abou-Khalil :: Bukra

World fusion

Enrique Torres | San Diegotitlan, Califas | 02/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Veteran musician Rabih Abou-Khalil's rerelease of his classic fusion album "Bukra" is a delightful mixture of sounds that is hard to classify. Part new world jazz, part old world Middle Eastern rhythms, it creates a very unique sound in a world where everyone tends to sound the same or else follows the same pop receipes. The opening track, "Fortune Seeker" is a fierce performance that rises and falls with forays into jazz and Arabic sounds. The master musician and composer, Rabih Abou-Khalil plays an incredible oud that delivers this song into ancient Arabesque musical charts. Meanwhile a mean jazz sax breaks in to create a musical and cultural fusion that is spectacular, innovative and timely. On the song "Time" the slow melody is pushed along by the oud with mental images created of a marching caravan moving across the desert. The cadence and rhythm slowly warm up to a slightly higher progression as the jazzy reed elements blend harmoniously with the Middle Eastern sounds. Another good song is the meditative "Reflections" where the oud opens an inspiring hipnotic trance that cuts across cultures. His accelerated finger work on the oud captivates the senses. The various runs on the oud play out like a marathon journey of magical music. The introspective music delivers rapid fire sounds that articulate his mastery of the instrument. Essentially it is one long solo that is full of improvisation and artistry. The whole disc is very good and a welcome addition to to any world music aficionados catalogue. An origianl when it come to world music, this disc would also be appealing to a jazz fan. Try it, it is a very good world fusion disc."