Customer Reviews

Em Portugues (Dig)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a big fan of Abou-Khalil and after billion spins of his previous albums I must say that this new offering by him took me off my feet! Superficially the idea to combine vocals with his composing style seemed like a joke but after a few plays my verdict changed completely. The superb vocalist Ricardo Ribeiro sings these difficult pieces with natural floating ease as if he had been doing this sort of music for years instead of Fado, the melodies are catchy and a joy to one's ears and furthermore the assisting tuba gives some magnificent sweeps here and there not to mention the oud which stays cleverly in the backround most of the time. Every member gets his share of soloing as usual mind you! Excellent album which may well be termed as a Classic in the (near) future.

This music is absolutely outstanding! I didn't knew Abou Khalil's music very well and, although I am portuguese, I never heard about Ricardo Ribeiro. I was lucky to see Rabih Abou Khalil and Ricardo Ribeiro in a live concert in Évora, Portugal, and it was certainly one of the best concerts I ever heard. That's why I bought the CD. The music it's not Fado, but a miscelanious between East and West music, something magic with a very portuguese feeling hand in hand with arabic music, something of jazz and also other musical traditions. The whole band is also superb! The dialogue between all the magnificent musicians is something hard to forget! Outstanding!

I am a huge fan of Rabih's music and have every one of his CD's. I am very familiar with his style that is filled with humor, technique and fusion elements. Although I didn't find the vocal thing a too big of a stretch as a concept, I have to say that it was a bit too much for me. I would have easily loved the album if it had half the vocal emphasis.

Ricardo Ribeiro dominates all 12 tracks with his vocals in a foreign language (Portuges?)I think the vocals detract from Khalils hypnotic instrumental music found on this and all of his previous cds.In smaller doses the vocals wouldnt be so hard on the ears.This should have been titled as a Ribeiro CD so I knew what I was buying.