Haifa

Nizar Radwan, “Haifa” (Magda Music, 2008)
Reviewed by Abu Ramses – ALL TRACKS FCC CLEAN

Nizar Radwan, conductor of the Arab Orchestra of Nazareth, offers a “personal” CD dedicated to his home town of Haifa, where he still lives in the house built by his grandfather. Modern-classical instrumental pieces feature Radwan on the violin & oud. Tracks 1, 2, 3 composed by Nizar Radwan; Michael Sajrawi: electric guitar & bass. Hagit Rosemarine: flute. Ramzi Besharat: Oriental percussion. Nabegh Abu Nicholas: bongos & ocean drum.

Sama‘i: a stately Turco-Arabic musical form with 2-3 sections (hanas) & refrain in 10/ 8 time; faster finale in ¾ time; then back to refrain
Hijaz Kar & Farahfaza: modes (maqams) in Middle Eastern music with different arrangements of ¼ tones.
Taqsim (plural, taqasim): an improvisation

Try
All are excellent. 1, 3, 4, 7 my faves.

Tracks
1. Haifa – Waves of sea & violin solo intro; then up beat ensemble - 5:09
2. Nissan (April) – mid-tempo ensemble, guitar solo - 5:29
3. Oud Improvisation and Sama‘i Hijaz Kar – Slow improv; then sama‘i - 7:04
4. Zikrayat (Memories) – mid-tempo ensemble & slow violin intros, then oud & violin rounds and variations of this mid-20th century piece by Egyptian Riyad al-Sunbati, the Arab equivalent of a blues-man. - 4:40
5. Taqasim on Violin and Sama‘i Farahfaza – Improvisations; then sama‘i by Turkish born Muhyi al-Din Haydar (1892-1964) who was invited to Iraq by King Faisal in 1930s & taught the great Iraqi oudists Jamil & Munir Bashir - 7:47
6. Improvisation on Ha l-Asmar al-loun (The Dark Colored, a Syrian folk tune) – slow oud improv with ocean drum accompaniment, then percussion solo & violin improv - 8:51
7. Folk Songs - Ya Loor (Addressing A Girl Named Loor); Ya Mayilah; (Addressing A Dancer); Abn'a Safi (My Classmates) – first 2 songs composed by the Lebanese Rahbani brothers; 3rd by his father, Suhayl Radwan, is often sung at school events and graduations – mid-tempo, melodic, bongo drums, guitar solos - 6:58