• Artist: Rabih Abou-Khalil
• Rating:
• Style: World Fusion

Review

Tarab is an unusual album for the great Lebanese jazz composer and oud player in that it features no Western instruments or musicians, except for Glen Moore on the acoustic bass. The melody instruments are the nay (Arabic flute) played by the Syrian veteran Selim Kusur and, as always, Abou-Khalil on oud or Arabic lute (which more or less functions like the piano in a standard jazz quartet). Rounding out the group are Nabil Khaiat on frame drums and percussion and Rameesh Shotham on South Indian drums and other percussion. Everyone but Kusur has worked at least semi-regularly with Abou-Khalil. (Kusur did play on Abou-Khalil's Roots and Sprouts, an earlier instance of a album with no Western instruments.) The lack of Western instrumentalists gives Tarab a less jazzy, more Arabic feeling than Abou-Khalil's other albums. Abou-Khalil builds his albums around his guest instrumentalists, so Tarab features the nay prominently, but even more this is an album for the oud and for showing off the rhythm section. For example, on "In Search of the Well" there is actually a bass solo.

And there are a few other pleasant surprises scattered through the album. On "Awakening" someone - just who is not credited - lets forth a string of bol singing, that rapid-fire, tongue-twisting Indian chant made famous in the West by Sheila Chandra. And out of the blue on "Arabian Waltz" appears a jaw harp, presumably played by Shotham, who plays it on Between Dusk and Dawn. accenting the fast-paced original version of what later became the more lush title track of the album Arabian Waltz. This last song is especially welcome for its strong melody, standing out on an album that certainly does not lack for atmosphere, but which would have benefited from greater tunefulness. Still, a very worthy effort, though not the best place to start one's Rabih Abou-Khalil collection, especially if one is coming from a jazz background. ~ Kurt Keefner, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	iTunes	Composers	Performers	Time
Bushman in the Desert	...	Rabih Abou-Khalil	Rabih Abou-Khalil	(8:00)
After Dinner	...	Rabih Abou-Khalil	Rabih Abou-Khalil	(5:53)
Awakening	...	Rabih Abou-Khalil	Rabih Abou-Khalil	(8:06)
Haneen Wa Haneen	...	Rabih Abou-Khalil	Rabih Abou-Khalil	(8:07)
Lost Centuries	...	Rabih Abou-Khalil	Rabih Abou-Khalil	(7:10)
In Search of the Well	...	Rabih Abou-Khalil	Rabih Abou-Khalil	(3:37)
Orange Fields	...	Rabih Abou-Khalil	Rabih Abou-Khalil	(9:38)
A Tooth Lost	...	Rabih Abou-Khalil	Rabih Abou-Khalil	(5:20)
Arabian Waltz	...	Rabih Abou-Khalil	Rabih Abou-Khalil	(5:00)

Credits

Glen Moore (Bass), Rabih Abou-Khalil (Composer), Rabih Abou-Khalil (Voices), Rabih Abou-Khalil (Oud), Rabih Abou-Khalil (Producer), Rabih Abou-Khalil (Main Performer), Rabih Abou-Khalil (Cover Design), Gunther Kasper (Producer), Gunther Kasper (Engineer), Gunther Kasper (Mixing), Nabil Khaiat (Percussion), Nabil Khaiat (Drums), Nabil Khaiat (Frame Drum), Ramesh Shotham (Percussion), Ramesh Shotham (Drums), Ramesh Shotham (South Indian Drums), Matthias Winckelmann (Executive Producer), Georges Ghantous (Cover Art), Georges Ghantous (Calligraphy), Ralph Weber (Photography), Georges Chantous (Artwork), Georges Chantous (Cover Design), Sammy Hart (Photography), Isabelle Jue (Adaptation)