Παρασκευή 10 Αυγούστου 2012

Ahmed Abdul-Malik - Eastern Moods Of Ahmed Abdul Malik [1963]




 One of the most compelling albums ever recorded by Ahmed Abdul-Malik – and that's saying a lot, since all of his albums are pretty darn great! The set's got a style that's very strongly in keeping with the "eastern moods" of the title – with less of a jazz sound than some of Abdul Malik's other work for Prestige, and more spare, exotic instrumentation overall. The group on the set is a trio – Ahmed on bass and oud, Bilal Abdurrahman on alto, Korean reed flute, and percussion, and William Henry Allen on bass and percussion. With that kind of lineup, you can imagine the feel – lots of spare rhythms, with snaking reed work over the top, done in a very evocative way – and although there's less jazz than usual, the alto sax solos still give the record enough of a jazz component to set it apart from straight world music. The album kicks off with a surprisingly great, and incredibly haunting take on "Summertime", then rolls into some really wonderful original tunes that include "Ancient Scene", "Magrebi", and "Shoof Habebe". 


                                            

                                                                 Enjoy!

3 σχόλια:

dugg είπε...

wonderful description of what sounds like emchanting music- not familiar with these players but now i'm really looking forward to listening to them.
thanks!
respect,
d

ps- i quite like the image at the top of your blog- a friend of mine in Vancouver has the original painting hanging in his living room! (at least he did the last time i was there....)
small musical world sometimes...

Fantis Bastunis είπε...

Thanks for your comment dugg.
My intention is to share good but not so popular music,so i'm glad if you discover something you like in a direction not explored yet.

Very interesting what you write about the blog's front image.I just found it around the net and liked it enough to put it up front.

Ανώνυμος είπε...

Hey never heard about this one before. Only know about his earlier work. A lot of nice music here. Unfortunately I´m too late for a few of you post. But maybe there are reups? I keep following... Thanks for all your efforts! C.