The World (Public Radio Intl), Global Hit: DuOud (Real Audio) >>
The oud is the Arab lute. The instrument has been around since the days when it accompanied the poetry of wandering Arab minstrels. It became as important to Arab music after the arrival of Islam as, say, the piano would become in European music.
The oud is also the grandfather of the guitar and other stringed instruments. But when some musicians play it, it's clear that this is not your grandfather's oud. The World's Adeline Sire prepared today's Global Hit.
This tune is performed by 2 French oud players that make up a duo called "DuOud." Though both musicians live in France, they are of North African origin. Mehdi Haddab is from Algeria and Jean-Pierre Smadja, who goes by the nickname "Smadj," is from Tunisia. He says in this album, recorded with 5 other musicians, they strive to explore the apparently limitless possibilities of the instrument.
Smadja: It's modern oud music. It's difficult to tell something else because it's not a traditional way to play the instrument, but we also use a lot of traditional background.
Smadj grew up listening to traditional Arab musicians like Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum and Iraqi oud player Munir Bashir. But Smadj didn't choose to play the oud until the age of 30. He says the minute he tried it, he was hooked.
Smadja: Even though I was a professional player of guitar I just forgot it and I spent all my time playing oud because it was so rich. I had the feeling that I found my way in music. So I think it's very strong when you begin to play this instrument, you have a very strong feeling.
And that special feeling is not confined just to those who play the instrument.
Smadja: The sound of this instrument is very particular. It seduces a lot of people especially women (laughter). I think it's the sound of this instrument because it's very warm, it's very lyrical, it has a special atmosphere so I think perhaps it has a special effect.
Those seductive qualities may explain why the duo's first album is called "Wild Serenade." And that serenade doesn't discriminate on the basis of geography. While many tunes on the CD are based on North African melodies, there are songs that take their inspiration from places like Armenia and Turkey as well.
The theme from the 1978 film "Midnight Express," oud style, has become an anthem for the DuOud band.
Smadja: It was part of this wish to play the instrument differently, to show to people that we could play something very Western with it and it's not only an Arabic instrument. And we both like the soundtrack of "Midnight Express" and especially the track, "Chase," because we thought it was it is very representative of techno music. We found also that the melody was very kitsch and we like kitsch things, so we decided to play
And it became a major hit for the group. The film "Midnight Express" is a nightmarish tale based on the true story of an American man jailed in Turkey on a drug charge. At the time the Turkish government said the film was a gross exaggeration of reality and then banned it. So Smadj --who on this album plays alongside a violonist from Turkey named Nedine-- said the group wanted to redeem the disco tune for the sake of all Turkish people.
Smadja: We wanted to revenge them so that's why we invited Nedine to play on it, because he's Turkish! And we just wanted to give a funny Turkish version of the track, to show that we could play this music but a Turkish way!
DuOud is performing tonight in Washington DC as part of the "Vive La World Tour."
For The World, I'm Adeline Sire. 07/17/03 >> go there
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