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CD Review
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Insideworldmusic.com, CD Review >>
Review by Tom Orr
Marcel Khalife
Caress
(Nagam Records NR 1015 CD, 2004)
Though not the only contemporary master of the Arabic lute known as the oud, Lebanese-born Marcel Khalife sure does take the instrument in directions that are both enticing and adventurous. Heading up a quartet that also includes acoustic bass, piano and percussion, Khalife can wield the oud with the same finesse as a classical musician, the tricky turns of a jazz man or the eloquence of a musical poet. This CD celebrates varying degrees of each, along with the duality of Islamic and Christian cultures in his native land and the underlying belief in music as a guiding hand toward peace and understanding. Khalife and his players are an astonishingly versatile bunch, moving easily from solo to group passages, navigating freeflowing grooves in and out of Arabic modalities and coming up with some trailblazing sounds. (You might think you don’t want to hear an oud jamming alongside a vibraphone, for example, but it sounds great here.) Sometimes celebratory, sometimes solemn, sometimes as pensive as chamber music, Caress will, true to the title, rub you all the right ways. 11/29/04 >> go there
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