Already a fan of the band Salaam form their previous work, I was elated to receive their new self-released Train to Basra and Other Stories. Opener “Queen of Sheba” is an Arab-Latin mash that sets into shimmying motion an excursion that steps in and out of Iraqi territory and touches down for varying stretches in the Mississippi Delta, the Andes, Mexico, Egypt and a New York jazz club or two before stepping bask in time to when its primary locale was called Mesopotamia. Under the leadership of oud/violin/spike fiddle virtuoso Dena El Saffar and master percussionist Tim Moore, Salaam’s all-instrumental train journey never derails and continually delights en route.