Anouar Brahem Review: Blue Maqams

Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem has released, Blue Maqams. The CD features Brahem with bassist Dave Holland, drummer Jack DeJohnette and pianist Django Bates.   Although Brahem has never had ambitions to be a jazz player, he has long felt a sense of solidarity with the music’s practitioners. The aesthetics of jazz are very different than Arab music, but both share a spontaneity that allows musicians to freely express themselves through improvisation. Holland’s steady pulse can follow the harmonic structure in any direction the improvisation travels, pair that with DeJohnette’s sensitive and subtle drumming and Bates intuitive accompaniment and the result is Brahem’s melodic solos are sonic works of art. The four balance a faithfulness to Brahem’s written parts with soaring improvisational freedom. So that’s the short of it.