Customer Reviews

Voyage De Sahar

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anouar Brahem's music is refreshingly original, remarkably intricate, and (perhaps most important) eminently listenable. His music transcends the "world fusion" genre in which his music is most often placed. Ever since borrowing "Astrakan Cafe" from the Chicago Public Library 5 years ago, I've absorbed his music and he's quickly become my favorite musician of all time. Some have described his stuff as "oud chamber music" and that's appropriate, but each song is essentially a jazz piece. Brahem has cited Keith Jarrett as a major influence, and you can hear why... ECM is a fitting label! Brahem has a real gift for melody; as has been said elsewhere, most "world fusion" is jangly, and this stuff is anything BUT that.

To those of you who are familiar with his work already, and are now considering this album, let me assure you: it's worth it. My initial impressions were not that good; this album didn't hit me with any particular glorious strain (except "Halfouine", but of course, that was a major delight of "Astrakan Cafe"). I wondered if a previous reviewer was right when he said Brahem still had gold to mine from the vein he tapped in "Le Pas du Chat Noir". BUT this music is subtle, and when you keep listening and really listen, the rewards come. Yes, this album is very much like "Le Pas du Chat Noir", but it is no lame recycling or collection of "Chat Noir" leftovers. Nope! What you get with this album is an exquisite title track (the piano's solo is lithe and graceful), "L'Aube" is brooding but these still waters run deep, "Nuba" is a playful intermezzo. The next set runs a bit melancholy but really listen to the players meditate in "La Chambre", "Cordoba", "Halfouine", and then "La Chambre, var." All together they make an excellent extended musing. "Zarabanda" is a highlight of the track (check out the excellent accordion work) and almost worth the price of the album by itself. The last two return to brooding, but that's OK, the deep humming of the oud on "Ete Andalous" is magnificent (listen to Brahem's fingerwork as he makes the oud moan and whimper quietly - amazing - and then he picks some great lines).

Accept my highest recommendation, if you want an album that bears repeated listening and never blares. Right up there (almost) with "Thimar" and "Astrakan Cafe".

... the amazon.com review above nails it perfectly-- there's little I could possibly add.

That said, I'll give this 4-1/2 stars because: (a) I reserve the full 5 stars only for the absolute best, and Brahem has definitely produced a couple of these during his career; and (b) this recording retreads the ground of this group's earlier outing, "Pas De Chat Noir" somewhat. Then again, if a vein isn't exhausted, why cease mining?

In short, this is great music-- lovely, atmospheric, exquisite, and of a seemingly effortless fluidity.

This disc from Tunisian Anouar Brahem is shore to gain unanimous acclaim just as his 2002 effort Le Pas du Chat Noir has. This trio has been Brahem's most successful through many recordings which have crossed from tradional, jazz and world explorations. French muscians Francois Couturier (piano) and Jean-Louis Martinier (accordion) again accompany Brahem's restrained and masterful oud (Arabic lute). This is an intimate and tender musical exploration mixing Arab-Andalous fusion, jazz, slow tango and stylised French classical music. The three musical instruments work beautifully together with Brahem's oud leading lines of introspection among the delicate whimsy of Martinier's accordion. A reprise from Brahem's 1994 disc Khomsa, Couturier's romantic and cascading piano is a highlight of the Fellini-esque medley Vague/Et la nave va. The yearning and promise of L'Aube and the title tracks haunting resonance are just two moments of real beauty.

It would be best to think of Brahem as an artist on a jazz label, rather than as a jazz musician; as a worldly musician, rather than one who plays world music. Along the way, he transformed the traditional melodies and styles of his native country into an improvisational music that worked well when played in a jazz context. Brahem invented his own style.

Brahem works here with the two other members of his trio from 2002's Le Pas du Chat Noir, the beautiful and critically lauded album that brought him into greater public consciousness. Jean-Louis Matinier plays accordion and François Couturier is on piano, while Brahem leads the trio on his oud, an eleven-stringed Arabic cousin of the European lute. Matinier's playing, unsurprisingly, most often echoes the sounds of either France or Argentina, although the versatility of his technique is astounding, and there are times when you'll swear you're hearing a woodwind instead of the air moving through the bellows of his accordion. Couturier, likewise, molds his piano playing to the mood and feel of each particular track. "Halfaouine" is pensively Chopin-like, for instance, while his left-hand comping on the title track sets up a low, meditative hum for the song's spare and softly stuttering rhythmic vamps. When he later cuts into a sharp and clear procession of notes, this sort-of solo lifts the track to beautiful new heights. But it is Matinier who steals the show on the Spanish-tinged "Zarabanda", with accordion playing that is more mellifluous and crystalline than I had imagined could possibly come from that instrument. Despite Anouar Brahem's name appearing alone on the CD cover, this album is clearly a collaborative effort. Of course, the leader does take the lead on many occasions, as in the opening to "Eté Andalous" and the first half of "Córdoba". In each case, Brahem subtly weaves his solos in and around his sidemen's support, fiding some Arabic tones at times, but mostly following his restless bliss.

Le Voyage de Sahar is an assured and subtle work. While less melodically adventurous than Chat Noir, Sahar is Brahem's most mature release. The sound remains spacious, but appropriately warm for an album meant to evoke the desert of Northern Africa and which, instead, evokes no one place, no one genre, and no one time. A gorgeous album, Le Voyage de Sahar simply is.

FJB/O!-music 2006

Tunisian Anouar Brahem's "Le Voyage de Sahar" finds him in the same company- pianist Francis Courturier and accordionist Jean-Louis Martinier- as 2002's highly acclaimed "Le pas du chat noir."
Having toured in support of that CD, the trio developed into a true group, something that Brahem accentuates to great effect on this program of new compositions and three favorites that are recast with the new ensemble.
With "Voyage" Brahem continues a trend of creating music that is not as overtly "jazzy" as some of his earlier outings.
Nonetheless, he remains a master a crafting deliciously vivid, richly evocative compositions that distill Arabic music and European jazz sensibilities with a warm, sonorous chamber music vibe.
Among the ports of call on this "Voyage" are "Zarabanda," whose elegant lope recalls the French Riviera.
Elsewhere the title track exudes mysticism tempered with intrigue, while "Cordoba" and "Ete Andalous" are meditative pieces with a decidedly cinematic scope. The gentle bounce of "Nuba" and introspection of "Les Jardins de Ziryab" both include uncredited but effective passages of voice.
Rarely do you hear music this gorgeous.

I ordered both Le voyage de Sahar and Le pas du chat noir recently. When I received them, a performance of Anouar Brahem was announced in Cairo, Egypt, where I am living. Although I enjoyed the concert, I have been a little bit disappointed by the live performance, since A. Brahem was not performing with the two musicians accompanying him on Le voyage de Sahar and Le pas du chat noir. I feel that this trio (lute + accordion +piano) is a wonderful one, and definitely Le Pas du chat noir is the best album. I enjoyed Le voyage de Sahar too though.

Others have compared this album somewhat less favourably to its predecessors, however of the Anouar Brahem albums I have heard (quite a few), this is the one I keep playing and enjoying. It works as attentive listening, it works as meditation, it works as background music and it works day and night. I think it is beautiful and profound without being heavy and suffocating. It speaks with a truthful heart and it does it for me. Take the voyage! Regards Paul.

Here's another hour of near-minimalist relaxation with Anouar Brahem, now one of the great international names in jazz. This latest album is every bit as atmospheric as his last several; the trio format (with Brahem on oud, and the others on piano and accordion) is well suited to the music, though for an appreciable portion of the program there is actually only one (or two) of the instruments playing. The music itself is jazz, but a version of jazz such as Arvo Part might create: sparse and mysterious, with additional atmospheric hints of French cabaret, North African caravans, and Middle Eastern opium dens. There is actually not a good deal of range of mood to Brahem's music, whatever he titles his albums, but this is never an issue, as the man seems unable to create anything incapable of touching one's deep interior places.

This is one of the Cd's of the year if not the CD of the year in my humble opinion. I discovered it somewhat by chance at Divertimento a few eeks ago. I had lost interest a decade ago in the label ECM. This is a wonderfully played and recorded album.

The great Japanese Zen master dogen wrote that "By knowing one thing we know one wisdom".
This "one thing" may be one sound, one beat or one whisper of voice. Each is reflecting the deepest meaning of our life.Listening again and again to this record by Brahem, my heart is filled with this "One wisdom".
Each string sound, each pause between the shifting melodies has the depths of the sea and the richness of one's heart.Le Voyage De Sahar reveals itself every time differently - it only asks us to listen - not with our ears, but with our hearts. I highly recommend it, not only as formidable music but as a deep voyage into our own being, recognizing "one wisdom".