Onethreeseven

Zohar

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 11, 2001)
• Original Release Date: September 11, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ark 21
• ASIN: B00005NWMZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,270 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Folk > Jewish & Yiddish Music

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

World dance albums are a dime a dozen these days, as studio nonmusicians cut and paste exotic sounds into hip, trendy, and generally vacuous international tapestries. The Middle East-influenced Zohar escape this morass of mediocrity via their organic blend of live and sampled sounds. Zohar's composers/performers are both synthesists and musicians. The jazzy Arabic trip-hop of "Midnight at the Bazaar" is indicative of the group's approach--blending mystical Middle Eastern sounds with modern technology and styles, all the while retaining a sense of spirituality. Zohar implement a wide range of instruments, including piano, trumpet, Chapman stick, bendir, and drums, and combine them with a varied group of male and female Arabic vocalists to create compositions rich with aural textures. Some of the dreamy trumpet playing even recalls Jon Hassell. There are several moments of repetition that could have been edited down, but the group generally succeeds in its quest to create modern "soul music." --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superior Middle Eastern world fusion, November 20, 2001

By	LGwriter "SharpWitGuy" (Astoria, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is, hands down, the best album of traditional Middle Eastern vocals in a worldbeat setting, rivaled only by Wally Brill's The Covenant (also really good). Included in the vocalists (sampled) is the legendary Egyptian woman singer Oum Khalthoum whose peak period dates back to the 40s and 50s.

The real advantage of an album like this is to bring these amazing vocals, accurately described by the group in the liner notes as "soul music" to a much wider audience. Few people, if any, would pick up a CD by Oum Khalthoum. For these guys to make this album is a powerful testament to the strength and spirituality of this music, still very much alive today.

As is true of the most sophisticated worldbeat/world fusion artists, Zohar branches out to embrace sounds outside the range of the region they focus on. In the track "Head and Bones" they incorporate sampled gamelan as a melodic rhythm element in their otherwise Middle Eastern-inflected atmosphere. And percussionist Simone Haggiag plays djembe (talking drum), native to West African music, in addition to the percussion instruments characteristic of the Middle East.

Well worth a listen.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow, December 14, 2002

By	Benjamin Prentice (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

I bought this album on a lark, just because it looked interesting, and I was NOT disappointed. The opening track, "ehad" is one of the most incredible songs I've ever heard. "midnight at the bazaar" is a great chill song. "elokainu" is one of those beautiful, haunting songs that gives you goosebumps. I love the whole album...it's simply intoxicating.

The music on this album isn't supposed to be middle eastern...it's dance/ambient/drum and bass with middle eastern influences. It's one of a kind. One of my best purchases ever.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classy, jazzy, sensual and addictive, July 21, 2002

By	Sally "probablynotyourgalsal" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

I have to write this review (don't usually) since I think the reviews so far don't describe the music on this album well and the ratings absolutely do not do justice. The Amazon reviewer is closest to my own impressions, which is that this group has some major talent. This has held up well to repeated listening- very little of it is old almost a year after it's release, and I never have it far from the player.

Tomb Raider background music? Hardly. As far as "using" this music for dinner party wallpaper, I am failing to imagine that since it is far too interesting to listen to. But then, in my opinion, this is music for people who actually like to listen and experience it. (And not only between bites of green beans.)

These guys have a knack for working in the most unusual and unexpected voices, sound textures, and samples and surprising the ears with the combinations. Track after track starts off with what almost seems like an odd and/or eratic mix of elements and ends up flowing into a wave of undulating, mesmerizing sound that enigmatically captures the attention. Textures and rhythms rise and fall and weave in and out, and you don't even realize everything that's layered in until one or more of them lift so you can hear what's underneath. I have no problem finding spiritual qualities in this music, and I have no problem with combining that with heavy base lines and lots of percussion.

So hey, I love this CD, and I hope I don't have to wait too long for more. Several tracks are more than dance-worthy, but I like to listen to this in the late hours when I'm in the mood for some scintillating chillin'. Is it totally flawless? No. But even so, this first offering of theirs has me hitting the repeat button often. Cheesy it is not. Mediocre it is not.

Highly recommend this. Enjoy.