-By Bradley Bambarger


NEW YORK - "Absolute Arabian Nights" was a cross-cultural, ensemble affair at Town Hall Saturday, the program organized by conductor Kristjan Jarvl to feature aspects of jazz and Western classical music in concord with Middle Eastern traditions.

But with his stately, confident aura — equal parts priest and movie idol — veteran Lebanese musician Marcel Khalife was obviously the draw, even though he only appeared in the concert's second half Nattily attired, his black outfit and snowy beard offset by a lime-colored scarf, he was greeted by a knowing ovation, the full house buzzing with Arabic voices.

Born in 1950, Khalife is a poetic player of the oud (the fretless Arabic lute). His latest album, "Taqasim," is a set of instrumental improvisations, recorded in Hoboken. But Khalife's fame in the Arabic world stems mostly through his songs, often written to the poetry of Palestinian Mahmoud Darwish. In a sandy, yearning voice, Khalife sang a few of these cosmopolitan tunes (the Middle-Eastern cadences mixed with a pastel lyricism that sounded as if he listened closely to Antonio Carlos Jobim). The audience received them with a hungry rapture.

Khalife's dedications and jokes were often lost on non-Arabic speakers, but it was clear that he dedicated "Jawaz alSafr" (Passport) to airport security and border guards around the world. Irony gave way to excitement by the encore; women in the crowd ululated at his song "Ya Bahriah" (Fisherman's Call), and an impromptu couple even swung their scarves as they danced in the aisles.

Prior to Khalife's arrival, the program belonged to Swiss-born New York composer/saxophonist Daniel Schnyder, a frequent collaborator with Jarvi (who is the younger son of New Jersey Symphony Orchestra music director Neeme Jarvi). Although a fluent jazz player and a composer of symphonies, the 44-year-old.

Schnyder specializes in ethnic fusions. He has written for ensembles featuring African and Chinese instruments, as well as concertos for Alphom and for jazz pianist Kenny Drew Jr., not to mention variations on Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze."

Schnyder's polyrhythmic creations had the air of the Casbah, with a little klezmer, Cuban jazz and Gil Evans wafting in along with Mohammed Abdel Wahab. The instrumentation was beautifully textured, featuring trumpet, trombone, clarinet, flute, violin, cello, double-bass, keyboards, hand percussion and trap drums. In his "Oyun I," Schnyder's soprano sax led the way, keening a soliloquy as if he were a beatnik muezzin.

The night's most exquisite solo voice was that of Bassam Saba on the nay (the Arabic reed flute). He played the windswept melody of Schnyder's "Shajara" as if he were charming a snake, carefully but lovingly. Schynder showcased Saba at length in a 15-minute Concerto for Nay; the best sections were the simplest, especially one where the nay sang solo atop rumbling double-bass, sounding like a call to prayer over slowly waking traffic.

Jarvi, 35, has been principal conductor of Vienna's Tonkunstler Orchestra since 2003. He is known best here, though, for his Absolute Ensemble, a Kronos Quartet inspired group that makes straddling genres its business. If Jarvi's operatic double-bill of Mozart's "Zaide" and Schnyder's "Casanova" at New York University in 2005 was a disappointment, his "Arabian Nights" was an exhilarating success.

A less formal talent than his older brother, Paavo (who leads symphony orchestras in Cincinnati and Germany), Kristjan has a high-spirited rhythmic flair that helped keep his group sharp through the idiomatic twists and turns. It was a toss-up whether crowd or conductor enjoyed the music the most, with Jarvi's wide grin obviously as much of a motivating force as his hands.