Customer Reviews

Taqasim

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

 

 

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 *****.

Picked this up on a chance at Beirut airport in 2006, not knowing much then about Khalife.

This is an astonishing recording. Haunting - a great, unforced, blend between the traditional music, atmospheric or symphonic stylings, and the jazz phrasing of the double bass which is as evocative as Scott LaFaro's work on Evan's "Live at the Village Vanguard".

It's one of those freakish "perfect moment" recordings, like "Kind of Blue" that draw you back again and again and again. This is all I play in my car right now, and has been for the last six months...

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.

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!

Words do not do justice to what you hear on this disc; it is beyond sound. The playfulness and mesmerizing collaborations make one realize that feeling is an integral part of music; for the musician and the listener. I have had to return the disc a second time due to a defect on the third track and am hopeful that I will be able to listen to Taqasim without defect.