Customer Reviews

Sultan's Picnic

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

 

 

This is a recording of a large ensemble with musicians from a wide range of backrounds who seem to share two charachteristics:
professionalism and open-mindedness. The compositions are intricate melodically and very challenging rhythmically, yet the complexity of the music is just a bed on which great emotional expeditions are taken as the performers improvise their solos.
There is a distinctive sound to the recording that is made up of very tight and almost ferentic ensemble playing blending in with the 'sedativeness'one may find on softer parts of the music.
Being a student of Indian classical music, Rabih Abou Khalil's fusion here reminds me of an equally exiting group twenty years ago called Shakti. If the analogy means anything to you, you would know that this is a 'must-have' cd.
This is not just another cd to your collection, this is truly an experiance both spiritually and intellctually.

This is without doubt one of the best works of Rabih Abou-Khalil. All the musicans are given their best. Mark Nauseef with his unique drum style, Howard Levy who grants with the harmonica the expresive range of Marianos saxophone or Kenny Wheelers trumpet. A very exciting and harmonious music creation.

Rabih Abou-Khalil was new to me, though I have since learned he has an extensive recording history.

As I was not aware of his work in fusing Western jazz and traditional Middle Eastern music, I was taken completely off guard when I listened to the Sultan's Picnic. It is one of the freshest musical efforts I had encountered in recent years. Abou-Khalil's s ensemble combines Middle Eastern musicians and instruments with American and European jazz artists. He and his colleagues really "brought it off" - I was entranced. Highest possible rating!

This album features a very similar lineup as Rabih's masterpiece Blue Camel. Once again Rabih uses his masterful arrangement skills to create wonderful horn lines and blends them with his middle eastern melodies and frenetic oud playing. As with all Khalil albums there is fantastic frame drame playing. Kenny Wheeler is featured on trumpet and really gets into the middle eastern thing. Two things that make this album different than Blue Camel are the addition of a harmonica player, and two tracks which feature Rabih the the bass oud. Personally I'm not a fan of the harmonica, but I abolutely love the bass oud. Solitude and Lamentation (which feature the bass oud) are chilling. Highly recommended.

Rabih Abou-Khalil teams up with some impressive jazz musicians, including Steve Swallow and Kenny Wheeler, but the result is a treacly mishmash that is uninteresting from both perspectives -- Middle Eastern and jazz. Abou-Khalil has put out some wonderful albums -- I love "Roots and Sprouts" and "Tarab" -- but this one is to be avoided.