MARCEL KHALIFE

Caress (Nagam)

            The oud was the basis for the lute, which became the model for other string instruments in the West.  In the Near East, the oud is the lead instrument in much traditional music.  Lebanese oud player Marcel Khalife is determined to respect those traditions while taking the oud into realms normally reserved for jazz.  On Caress, his ensemble plays with arrangements overlaying his elastic Arabic rhythms – a vibraphone, for example, picks up much of the otherworldly sonics associated with the Near East and a pianist soars solo on flights of fancy.  Mostly it works as a deeply felt and conceived cultural fusion.  Schmalz moment: Khalife’s band lapses into “Happy Birthday” on one number (it’s probably a crowd pleaser on his current U.S. tour).  On the closing track, “Passport,” Khalife’s band even explores the deconstructed reaches of jazz’s avant-garde. 

-- David Luhrssen

Marcel Khalife performs 7 p.m., Nov 14 at Chicago’s Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Drive.