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Concert Review
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The Globe and Mail, Concert Review >>
Nothing can hold back the Middle Eastern Dylan
He has been called both the Bob Dylan and the Pete Seeger of the Middle East, but neither comparison is totally apt, for two reasons. With due respect to Dylan/Seeger, Marcel Khalife can really sing - in the sense of being an accomplished vocalist - and play - in the sense of being a virtuoso on the oud, predecessor of the European lute. But it is true that there is one sense in which he is very much like both of these men: Khalife is a musical and political hero.
On Sunday, the audience greeted him with a standing ovation, and followed many songs with thundering applause, whistles and shouts of approval, particularly once Khalife began to sing. But the concert began with the boundary-pushing instrumental side of Khalife, featuring music from his 2007 release Taqasim, a tribute to Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. This music featuring oud, double bass and percussion - the last played with understated virtuosity by Khalife's son, Bachar Khalife.
Khalife's work is inextricably bound with Darwish's; many of his best-loved songs are settings of the poet's work. So on the surface an instrumental interpretation seems odd - but Khalife has said that with Taqasim (the word literally translates as "improvisations") he seeks to reproduce "the aesthetical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual resonance" of the poetry. It's as if he is expressing the impact of Darwish on his own inner life, but through his instrumental voice.
And what an instrumental voice - on Sunday, Khalife explored a complex and subtle range of oud possibilities. Not just the sliding, bending notes and microtones, not only the instrument's ability to drive music like chaff in a windstorm, but also by playing directly on the voluptuous oud's body (at one point, in a remarkable duet with bassist Peter Herbert), the bright sound of the wood ringing through the hall.
Though at its essence Middle Eastern, the music had hints of other cultures, a flamenco guitar flourish here, a sitar curve there, even a bluegrass mandolin jauntiness at times. Khalife's taqasims, while based on an improvising tradition reminiscent of ragas, were thoroughly Khalife - no surprise, from a musician trained in Middle Eastern classical music, but who has been an innovator over his 30-odd-year career.
Then, Khalife was joined by his other son, pianist (and Juilliard alumnus) Rami Khalife. But even with his explosive, jazz-influenced runs, and occasional forays into playing inside the piano, the night was about song, and about the audience's love of those songs. At times, Khalife merely played or sang a fragment of a motif, then momentarily fell silent to allow the audience to sing the rest.
Khalife's songs have galvanized people since the days he performed in abandoned Beirut concert halls during the Lebanese civil war. And while they enthrall Khalife's fans, they alarm others, who view him (despite or perhaps because of his status as a UNESCO Artist for Peace) as a political insurgent. One song, set to Darwish's poem Oh my Father, I Am Yusuf (which quotes a verse from the Koran), embroiled Khalife in charges of blasphemy of which he was ultimately cleared. A recent collaboration with Bahraini poet, Qassim Haddad, caused some Bahraini officials to accuse the artists of being in violation of sharia law. And the current tour was launched amid controversy over a San Diego venue withdrawing the use of their facility, allegedly citing the event was unbalanced and divisive.
But as Khalife said in a statement after the Bahrain controversy: "No one can hold us back." At Sunday night's performance, nothing did.
Marcel Khalife performs in Ottawa tonight, Calgary Thursday, Edmonton Friday and Vancouver Saturday.
The goods
Hits
The beauty, dignity, and history - of both man and music.
Misses
The gormless crew who arrived late in the balcony above stage, then left to find main-floor seating.
Crowd
Babes-in-arms to grandparents, who knew all the words. (Babes excepted.)
In A Word
Inspiring.
--Li Robbins 10/02/07 >> go there
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