Show #102: Rabih Abou-Khalil

January 16th, 2007

This week I’m stepping away from the prog and heading over to Middle Eastern-influenced jazz. Or is it the other way around? Whatever pithy phrase you want to use to describe the music of Rabih Abou-Khalil, it will no doubt fail because he crosses genre lines constantly.

I grabbed this show over the weekend and listened to about the first 20 minutes or so and was enchanted. While this is not my first encounter with the oud, a Middle Eastern lute, essentially, it had been a while since I’ve heard it. Listening to Abou-Khalil reminded me of performances by Madison’s own Hanah Jon Taylor at The city Bar on State Street 7 or 8 years ago. His group used either oud or lute – I’m not sure which. Since this is my first run-in with his music, I am going to quote the Wikipedia article about him.

From early on, he learnt to play the oud, a fretless string instrument, similar to the European lute. He studied in the Beirut conservatory from oud virtuoso Georges Farah. After moving to Germany, he studied classical flute at the Academy of Music in Munich under Walther Theurer.

He has often blended traditional Arab music with jazz, rock and classical music, and has earned praise such as “a world musician years before the phrase became a label — makes the hot, staccato Middle Eastern flavour and the seamless grooves of jazz mingle as if they were always meant to.” [1] Together with Anouar Brahem he has helped highlight the oud as a vehicle of eclectic “world jazz”. Abou-Khalil’s oud playing style has often been likened to jazz guitar: “Abou-Khalil spins more oud notes in 10 seconds than most jazz guitarists do in their short commercial lifespans.”

Abou-Khalil’s music uses elements from Arab music traditions, together with many jazz, rock and classical references, particularly to the school of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, which itself broke ground in terms of introducing new global influences. Other influences include Frank Zappa, Bela Bartok, and such unexpected musicians like the Mighty Sparrow and Lord Kitchener from Trinidad. Jazz elements are present in most of his recorded work, for instance in the use of the acoustic pizzicato bass, generally played by recognized jazz musicians like Steve Swallow and Glen Moore. At the Beijing Jazz Festival of 2003 he performed to great acclaim accompanied by tuba and clarinet as well as the percussion he has always favoured.

(Photo found here.)

The performance here was recorded on 11 May 1988 a the Funkhaus in Hamburg, Germany. The last song fades out which is how I received the recording.

Setlist:

Chess with Mal
Bukra
Apology Nicaragua
Fortune Seekers

Rabih Abou-Khalil – oud
Sonny Fortune – alto sax
Glen Moore – bass
Glen Velez – frame drum, percussion
Ramesh Shotham – Indian percussion

Download show

Rabih Abou-Khalil

Related posts:

1. Lucky Germans
2. Genesis Reunion?
3. Show #21: Roscoe Mitchell
4. Show #51: The Heathens
5. Show #94: Anoushka Shankar