Khalife, Marcel – Caress (Nagam Records)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 9/19/05
Amazing Arabian/Jazz/World instrumental tour-de-force by Lebanese composer and a handful of talented sons and friends. Two ideas are brought home here – one is the obvious lesson of how flamenco is deeply influenced by Arabian strings and percussion (two songs are named Al Hambra and Granada – many Arabs consider the Moorish culture in Spain their golden age.) The other is that if any electronica buffs wonder why some of us will always prefer the sound of human hands on wooden instruments, just take a listen to the tonalities and nuances achieved by the hands of these masters.
Khalife is a: a multiculturalist, and b: a proponent of peace and respect. It shows.
Times are given. No FCC (no vocals). I like 1, 6 and 8 best.
1. **gorgeous oud, followed by crazy jazzy vibraphone, even jazzier piano and double bass.
2. double bass/percussion jazz improv, with hints of other instruments
3. *slow start with oud full of overtones, great resonance and bending of notes. Gets up to (mid)speed at around 2 minutes in, very flamenco-ish, vibes come in around 5 minutes.
4. staccato oud with spare bass backing
5. mellow piano – sounds like pretty intense riffing on “Happy Birthday” – in fact, I guess that’s just what it is.
6. **upbeat, complex – really gets moving at 2 minutes in. Belly dancers are hiding inside the hookahs.
7. violin solo – sounds like a duet, but the guy’s just really good. Mind you, you have to like violin A LOT to go all 8:38…
8. **slow oud & percussion. Amazing playing, you can sink right into the overtones
9. *full instrumentation, complex; jazz, flamenco, classical, semi-familiar riffs blowing past as the song wanders all over the place, ending with solo vibraphone.