Babylonian Fingers (ARC Music, 2015)
Premier oud player, composer and teacher Ahmed Mukhtar just isn’t content to dazzle listeners with his renditions of Iraqi or Middle Eastern classics on his Babylonian Fingers, out on the ARC Music label, no he dares to re-imagine the musical forms of Iraq and the Middle East. Playing the oud since he was 10, a directorship of the Taqasim Music School and with recordings Road to Baghdad and Rhythms of Baghdad and Music From Iraq: Rhythms of Baghdad with fellow musician Sattar Al-Saadi to his credit, Mr. Mukhtar now sets out to fashion new forms from ancient ones.
Mr. Mukhtar explains, “Most of the pieces are new musical visions of the heritage of the oud… This album also contains heritage from the music of Babylonian civilization 5,200 years ago, interacting with contemporary oud music such as the piece ‘Babylonian Fingers.’”
Steeped in centuries worth of musical traditions, Mr. Mukhtar steps out on his own not only in composition, but also in his technique of oud playing, from the lushly jazzy, slightly quirky opening track “Iraqi Jazz,” before lapsing into the plushness of “Illuminations” based on maqams (or melody mode) Nahawand, Rast, Hijaz Kar and a traditional maqsoum rhythm.
Mr. Mukhtar, along with fellow musicians qanun player Hassan Falih, saxophonist Wasam Khasaf, clarinetist Shaher Nay, violinist Hikamtov, cellists Hussain Abbas and Julia Ana Katrina, double bassit Daood Rayn and percussionist Hassan Hassan further lure listeners with the elegance of “Sama’ Al Huaz, the kaleidoscope of colors of title track “Babylonian Fingers” on which Mr. Mukhtar plays the oud without a pick as with ancient Babylonian tradition and the deep, dark lusciousness of “Alleys of the Old City.”
Equally delicious are the tracks “Shahrazad Darej Sama’ Al” and “Traditional Iraqi Love Song.”
Mr. Mukhtar points out, “There is a story of love between the Iraqis and music.”
Yes, there certainly is and Babylonian Fingers is proof of that love story.
Buy Babylonian Fingers in North America
Buy Music From Iraq – Babylonian Fingers in Europe
Author: TJ Nelson
TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena’s Shadow.
Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena’s Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931.
Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.
