Shabda : शब्द

With FIRE DANCE, Omar Faruk Tekbilek and Brian Keane have created a unique recording that embraces many moods, at once energetic and meditative, mystical and joyous. Imbued with grace, this music transports the listener to a magical land where patterns of rich Middle Eastern traditions – are joined in music. FIRE DANCE is an adventure in transformation from which there is no turning back.

There is nothing heavy or contemplative here, which is a nice change of pace from some of this well-recorded group’s more serious endeavors. The barbat, a five double-stringed, pear-shaped lute provides a bass mandolin-like sound. The setar, the small long-necked lute with moveable frets is the treble. The rhythm is emphasized by a goblet-shaped drum, the tombak.

It is perfect background for relaxing with a novel by the great Egyptian author Naguib Mahfoux, especially the classy and attractive performance by the Takht Ensemble of Cairo. Stringed instrument lovers will particularly enjoy the astounding oud solo by Gomaa Muhammed Ali. The recording quality is fat, bringing out certain low tones in the oud and drum in a way that reaches right for the gut.

Holm bi Fes (Dreams of Fez) is an extended, album-length suite for oud (short-necked lute) and strings. It is a kind of love letter to the Morrocan city where the work was premiered at the 1996 Fez Festival of Sacred Music), and it is suffused with a feeling of happiness that is infectious.

This is the most recent of Alhaj’s CD (released after his Grammy nomination for best World Music CD) and is a beautiful and unique musical story of his first trip back to Baghdad, Iraq after 13 years in exile. His contemporary compositions, rooted in traditional Iraqi rhythms and modes show a masterly ability to communicate a wide range of emotions and moods including deep connection to his mother (Closeness), sorrow for American pain and loss after 9-11 (Gray Morning), horror at a close cousin’s death in Iraq (Qassim), Compassion for all living beings modeled on Far Eastern styling, Tango rhythm and connection to a new favorite tree in a new homeland (Oak) and cowboy blues combined with Oriental structure (Baghdad, New Mexico).

Alif (2001) was produced by Steve Shehan. Alif is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and it also signifies the first letter for Allah. The seventh song and title track is a Sufi masterpiece of devotional love in all its forms – divine love, romantic love, and love of life. This is the theme running through the album’s 12 songs. The album includes Hadji Atmet Tekbilek, Mamak Khadem, and Flamenco guitarist Jose Antonio Rodriguez.