Various Artists - The Rough Guide to the Music of Palestine

First published in fRoots issue 376, October 2014

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to the Music of Palestine
World Music Network (2CD, 122 mins)

What a pertinent release. With the Israel/Gaza conflict experiencing a particularly bloody recapitulation, the World Music Network continue their fantastic series of Rough Guides with the Rough Guide to the Music of Palestine, focussing on the often overlooked culture of the troubled region.

One might expect this album to be chock-full of Palestine’s particular brand of Levantine classical music and Egyptian-inspired orchestral works that are seemingly ever-present in the Arabic world, but, while some great examples of these are included, they sit amongst a diverse line-up that includes hip-hop, punk, pop, reggae and a fair amount of jazz. Full credit should be given to compilers Nili Belkind and Nadeem Karkabi for managing to squeeze in so many styles without any sounding out of place or the album feeling too muddled. With such a range of genres, it’s quite difficult to choose particular highlights, although Sanaa Moussa’s indie-acoustic tribute to Ottoman-period Palestinian songsters on 'Wea’younha' and the driving modern jazz of Michel Sajrawy’s 'Tojann' stand out in particular.

As with most recent Rough Guide releases, the Music of Palestine comes with a bonus album – Reflections Of Palestine by buzuk player Ramzi Aburedwan. Mixing Arabic classical music with jazz, tango and French elements, this bonus is an appropriate and complimentary addition to the main compilation.

The collection’s attention to the less ‘traditional’ side of Palestine’s musical spectrum can be seen as a positive, humanising tool at a time where most images we see of Palestine are of the ruined buildings and wounded civilians of Gaza. It also serves as a reminder of some of the great culture that may well be disappearing before our eyes. Even disregarding the timeliness of such a release, however, it’s still a brilliant and varied compilation from a country that is not necessarily famous for its musical output.

Oumar Konate - Addoh

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 102, August/September 2014.

Oumar Konate
Addoh
Clermont Music (58 mins)

With Addoh, his debut album, guitarist and singer Oumar Konate seeks to place himself amongst the ever-growing pantheon of Mali’s global stars. Having worked as a backing musician for Vieux Farka Touré, Sidi Touré and Khaira Arby, Konate takes things in his own direction, mixing the guitar styles of northern Mali with rock, funk, reggae and more, with some pieces even bringing to mind Senegalese mbalax.

Although the variety of styles presented on the album generally works in its favour, Addoh seems at its weakest when trying out reggae: the opening track is based on a cool reggae groove and misses the mark a bit. After that though, the album begins to pick up, and its second track ‘Bisimillah’ is probably the best of the lot, with Konate’s distorted guitar providing dramatic exclamations above a brooding blues.

Konate also introduces some interesting guests to his band: current hot-property Sidiki Diabaté brings his kora to the duet ‘Terya’ to good results and the American-Ethiopian horn section of Debo Band, though they feel somewhat underused.

Addoh isn’t a great album, but it’s certainly a good one, and one that shows promise and some exciting directions. Konate is one to keep an eye on.

Karim Baggili - Kali City

First published in fRoots double issue 374-375, August-September 2014

Karim Baggili
Kali City
Home Records (50 mins)

A Belgian of Yugoslav-Jordanian heritage, Karim Baggili has so far made his name through his blend of flamenco, tango, South American folk and Western and Arabic classical music. In this, his fourth album, Baggili gets in touch with his Levantine roots and puts down his usual Spanish guitar to return to the oud. Kali City is Baggili’s second major exploration into oud music (all self-composed), and to kick off the album, he invites the Palestinian oud trio Le Trio Joubran to join in.

The first five tracks of the album are moody duets and trios of oud between Baggili and Le Trio, with subtle percussion. Here, Baggili’s skills as both an oud player and composer can been heard as the various oud parts swirl together and swim apart, with tango and flamenco teasing their way out of the Arabic melodies.

Given the high status of these guests and their prominence in the album’s press, it’s a little strange that the album actually reaches its peak once they have taken their leave. They hand over to Baggili’s ‘Arabic Band’ to support him, and with violin, bass, kawala flute, drums and percussion, as well as Arabic vocals provided by Samia Sabri and Baggili himself. This ensemble seems to create a more exciting sonic landscape – a bustling urban environment rather than a stark desert scene. The album’s title track and the piece 'Arabic Circus', both from this latter half of the album, are probably the most enjoyable of the set, bringing to the mix flavours of jazz, classical music and even the occasional aroma of the 19th century Parisian café.

Karim Baggili does seem to have announced himself as just as proficient on the oud as the Spanish guitar and makes an entertaining album while he’s at it. It’s just a bit of a shame that the collaboration with Le Trio Joubran doesn’t quite delivery.

Various Artists - The Rough Guide to the Music of Mali

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 100, June 2014.

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to the Music of Mali
World Music Network (2 CDs, 136 mins)

So, just how does one represent such a musical powerhouse of a nation as Mali into just one CD? Well, this Rough Guide has a fair go of doing just that. Big names are included, such as Oumou Sangaré, Bassekou Kouyaté and Ali Farka Touré, but other superstars (Salif Keita, for one) have been bravely left out to showcase less well-known artists, which helps keep the album feeling fresh and exciting.

Pieces from a wide range of cultures from all corners of Mali are included on this compilation, from traditional Mandé jeli music in the south to Tuareg rock in the north. Unfortunately, although the compilation is stylistically varied, only music from the last 18 years is featured, with none of the legends from the 1970s making an appearance. The popular music of today’s Malian youth is also absent: there are no hip-hop or R’n’B artists here.

Taken on its own, this is a collection of great music. It’s a stonking listen, covers a good range of Malian music and comes with a bonus CD by Samba Touré. It just seems as if it may be impossible to do justice to such a musical country in only 70 minutes.

Sousou & Maher Cissoko - Africa Moo Baalu

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 100, June 2014.

Sousou & Maher Cissoko
Africa Moo Baalu
ARC Music (56 mins)

Africa Moo Baalu means ’big people of Africa,’ and the album effectively reads as an open letter to leaders in Africa and around the world, following the increasingly familiar narrative of calling for peace across the troubled continent.

Hailing from a venerated griot family in Senegal, Maher Cissoko feels it his duty to spread this message through his songs. Sousou Cissoko, on the other hand, despite being trained in classical and folk music in her native Sweden, points out that this album is not a blending of Senegalese and Swedish music, but rather the duo exploring their own music together. In practice, however, aside from occasional verses in English or Swedish, the album is very much Senegalese, often leaving Sousou’s European-style guitar sounding fairly redundant.

Maher’s performances here are more than proficient, especially when he gets a chance to shine on the solo kora (harp-lute) piece ‘Maki’, but the arrangements on this album do seem to stifle his playing and, as a result, it is hard to tell if he is playing to his full potential.

This is inoffensive stuff but pushes no boundaries, and in the end it does feel like it’s all been done before. A nevertheless pleasant and listenable album.

Amira Kheir - Alsahraa

First published in fRoots issue 372, June 2014

Amira Kheir
Alsahraa
Sterns Music (52 mins)

As a Sudanese-Italian living in London, Amira Kheir takes influence from many different cultures and musical styles. In her debut album View from Somewhere, she dotted between Sudanese traditional, Arabic classical music, jazz, soul and even hints of pop music and sang in three different languages.

However, in her second album, Alsahraa (meaning 'the desert'), Kheir shows an increasing maturity and decisiveness in her sound. Fewer genres are blended here – the main attention is to the melding of Sudanese music with soft jazz – and she only sings in Arabic and Italian. As a result, the album feels much more focussed; with a more concentrated style, the tracks of this album blend very well, often leading to the sensation of an overall flow underneath the album.

The high points of Alsahraa come when Kheir is at her most contemplative, such as the tracks 'Ma’assalama Rafiqi', a duet with Senegalese singer Abdoulaye Samb, and 'Fil Teyf', a quiet number backed only by the oud. A more up-tempo highlight is the bossa-inspired celebration of womankind, 'Ya Mara'. The album also contains some exciting instrumental interplay: an interesting relationship is formed between Kheir’s smooth and floating voice and the double bass of Michele Montolli, each seeming to compliment the other perfectly, the individual timbres being almost equal yet opposite.

The overall smoothness of the album can at times lead to it feeling rather bland, though. Through the length of the album, the tracks always feel as if they’re leading up to an explosive finish that never quite comes. But if you have a read of Kheir’s intentions for the album, it begins to make sense. The aim of the album is to make the listener feel ‘overwhelmed in the barren landscape of the desert’…and when you think of it that way, the unrelenting smoothness seems to portray the undulating dunes and oppressive yet beautiful silence of an empty desert.

L’Hijâz’Car - L’Hijâz’Car

First published in fRoots issue 372, June 2014

L’Hijâz’Car
L’Hijâz’Car
Buda Records (46 mins)

Okay, let’s get this clear right at the beginning: this album is probably the best I’ve heard so far this year. L’Hijaz’Car are a French quintet that cast a modern-day jazz eye over the Middle East, mixing Arabic, Turkish and Persian classical music with jazz that wanders between the mellow and brooding to the far-out and the very nearly free. Although the group have been playing since 2000, this eponymous album is their first widely-available release without a solo vocalist – and it’s well worth the wait.

The instrumentation of the group is unusual but inspired. The double bass is the only ‘traditional’ jazz instrument and it’s joined by oud and Arabic percussion which add to the band’s Eastern credence. It’s the other two instruments that take the ensemble into rather uncharted territory. The versatile tarhu spike-fiddle sounds anywhere between a frenetic violin, a soulful cello and a haunting duduk oboe, and the group is completed by the oft-overlooked bass clarinet. This instrument is perhaps the most striking sound on the album and its timbre suits the music to a tee: more domineering than the standard clarinet but with a fragility that a saxophone can’t provide.

Throughout L’Hijâz’Car, all five musicians show their prowess as soloists while still being able to join together in composed sections seamlessly, with unexpected but perfectly timed squeaks and honks, deliciously jarring dissonances and eerie, almost anguished pauses. It’s hard to pick any specific highlights from this seven-track whole, but 'We All Scream for Ice Cream' has a corker of a tarhu solo (don’t get to say that very often) and 'Igor Noir' sounds as if it could accompany a film noir spy sneaking around before infiltrating a salsa night in Damascus.

Really, this is just a superb album, and one that I’ve not been able to stop playing since it came through my door. Give it a listen, and you may find yourself subject to a similar fate. Lucky you.