Taqasim

Marcel Khalife

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 6, 2006)
• Original Release Date: November 21, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nagam Records, Inc.
• ASIN: B000JLSRH8
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #101,549 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > Middle East > Arabic

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

I specifically intended this set of Taqasim as a tribute and an expression of fidelity from Marcel Khalifé to Mahmoud Darwish. Some may wonder, as they listen to Taqasim, about the meaning of this dedication, for no part can be found in the score for the poetry of Darwish or for my own voice. Yet, nowhere have his poetry and my voice been as intensely present as in this work.

In Taqasim I shall entrust to the broad range of the lower registers of the oud and double bass the task of communicating those tremendous but obscure dimensions that are often ignored by the listeners' ears - the task of expressing the profound consonance between the poet and the musician.

In Taqasim my music will not "portray" anything or "refer" to anything. Rather than attempt to reconcile two systems of expression, it will re-create what the poetry of Darwish has created in me, in a manner analogous to the way digital systems process information, with analog material faithfully reproduced after being digitally encoded.

In Taqasim I will try to reproduce, only as music can, the esthetical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual resonance of Darwish's poetry. Through a purely musical idiom, I will attempt to communicate what my singing voice has never been able to communicate in any setting of Darwish's poems.

I will "encode" his poetry in a system of rhythm, melody, and harmony. To the listener's sensitivity, I shall entrust the task of decoding, which I sincerely hope will be truly faithful to the source.

Product Description
Marcel Khalife's new composition Taqasim is a duo for oud and double bass accompanied by Near Eastern percussion. Khalife is accompanied by Peter Herbert on double bass and Bachar Khalife on percussion.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Universal Oud Virtuoso for the 21st Century, December 22, 2006

By	Dr. Debra Jan Bibel "World Music Explorer" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This recording is something different. . . and wonderful. I am late in hearing the compositions and dazzling oud of Marcel Khalife. [Kudos to Amazon for leading me to him.] Largely in the 1980s and early 1990s, the then novel jazzlike, world music explorations of fellow Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil reached American ears via ECM and Enja recordings (which I had collected), but Khalife's works are in another, more universal class. While certainly rooted in Arabic tarab art-music, they are close in spirit and form to classical Western chamber compositions or even modern free jazz (like the group Oregon or Keith Jarrett's solo piano improvisations). This recording is not fusion nor Europop-influenced music; rather it is truly modern Arabic music. Khalife's music, however, is unique and original; it defies precise categorization. Much appreciated in North Africa and the Middle East, Kahlife's audience will sure expand, and this booklike album will help. I especially recommend his earlier 2-CD 2-oud quartet release, "Jadal", which will astonish you and which I rate *****.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Awesome, February 11, 2009

By	E. Hanna (TX, USA) - See all my reviews

This is one of Khlaife's best productions in comparison to others he has done. I am not a big fan of Marcel, nor of poetry, but the mature, oriental, and explicit Oud and double bass mix is spiritual beyond any intellectual resonance.

5.0 out of 5 stars A real gem!, December 28, 2008

By	A. Ferreira "Dreammer" (Porto Alegre - Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A very nice CD I listened the first time in the Arabic world in Paris. Unfortunatelly, the one that was playing was from the computer of the seller. He did not have any other CD to sell . I am most happy that I found this CD at amazon. A real gem!