Ahmad Al Kathib Archive

Duo Sabil = Zabad: “Twilight Tide” – HM

by Audiophile Audition | Jun 6, 2017 | Pop/Rock/World CD Reviews

Duo Sabil = Zabad: “Twilight Tide” – Harmonia Mundi 905279, 62:11 (3/30/17)  ****½:  (Ahmad Al Kathib, oud/ Elie Koury; bouzouki/ Youssef Hbeisch, percussion/ Hubert Dupont; bass) An original take on the traditional forms of Arabic music by an ensemble with tremendous aesthetic poise and technical polish. In traditional Arabic music, the fretless lute, or ‘oud, is restricted to its role of accompaniment to the singer. It was inevitable, given the lively temperament of the instrument that it would, with the cross-fertilization of jazz, aspire to instrumental independence. Many of our readers will recall the novelty of these first East-West introductions. Ahmed Abdul-Malik’s, (bassist with Thelonious Monk) “Sahara Jazz” brought the ‘oud as well as African percussion and exotic instruments such as the kanun into the bebop culture of the late ‘50s. In 1967, Hamza El Din, likewise, brought the Sudanese ‘oud traditional into happy confluence with an improvisational sensibility, with a modestly jazzy bass and singing backing his mellifluous lute playing. It was not until the late ‘80s and 90’s that the lute found not one but two monumental realizations as a fully independent instrument on par with its jazz and classical rivals. These two towering achievements appeared on the iconic […]