Anouar Brahem - Le Voyage de Sahar
Eloquent, beautiful music for piano, accordian and oud

For more than a quarter of a century, the Tunisian lutenist Anouar Brahem has been composing, playing and improvising remarkably eloquent, beautiful music for piano and oud.

He works with various other exceptional musicians, only some of whom share his direct connection to erudite Arabic traditions.

On Le Voyage de Sahar he is joined by two French friends - pianist François Couturier and accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier.

Brahem's original music is a haunting, spacious marriage of European and Arabic elements, superbly evoking the desert moods of North Africa. A gorgeous album - gentle but strong, and the sound quality is superb.

Anouar Brahem, born in Halfaouine, Tunisia in 1957, is regarded as his country's most innovative oud player. As a former pupil of master oudist Ali Sriti, he is thoroughly steeped in the secrets and subtleties of Arab classical music. He has absorbed this information and gone out to meet the world, a sophisticated modern musician with profound historical knowledge.

"Le Voyage de Sahar" features persuasive, emotionally powerful new compositions by Anouar Brahem, and also incorporates new approaches to three of his most requested pieces: "Vague", "E la nave va" and "Halfaouine".

"There's pure wonder and revelation in this music. Brahem has followed his impulses and laid his soul bare, creating another modern masterpiece. Le Voyage De Sahar should have special appeal to fans of jazz, classical and world music - or just plain good music."
Nenad Georgievski, All About Jazz

"If every band projects an image of community, then Mr Brahem's trio - part takht, part jazz trio, part chamber ensemble, evokes a kind of 21st century Andalusia, in which European and Arab sensibilities have merged so profoundly that the borders between them have disappeared. The image may be utopian, but its beauty is undeniable."
Adam Shatz, New York Times.

"Brahem is a marvellously lyrical musician and his long, ever-expanding melodies suit both his and Matinier's approach to their instruments. Couturier's role, by contrast, is to act as a fixed point in the landscape and allow his colleagues to travel always hopefully. It's hard to choose a favourite piece, though the opening "Sur Le Fleuve" is a beautiful statement of purpose and intent. But there are so many glorious moments. . This is wonderfully evocative music, soaked in the atmosphere of places and time. Listening to "Été Andalous", one feels that dry, burning heat and sees that fabulous blue sky and the landscape and buildings shimmering in the sun."
Duncan Heining, Jazzwise

"Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem casts a spell with his music. Blending jazz, flamenco, and Arabic traditions, he has become the Jimi Hendrix of this ancient instrument. . The atmosphere this music evokes is part smoky North African souk café and part cool Parisian jazz cabaret. Brahem's oud lines wind ever upward in a stylish, snaking arabesque of notes, seconded by the keyboards of his accompanists. This is strange, exotic music, thrilling, and stunning."
Vintage Guitar

"Brahem's latest (CD), again with Matinier and Couturier, reinforces the impression made by their first album: that here is a closely integrated trio playing markedly individual music whose simplicity and accessibility belie the care and subtlety that must have gone into its creation. Over its lovely contours flow North African, flamenco, jazz and classical elements, permeated by the composer's vision, firmly rooted, yet not circumscribed by those roots, and unified by that and the empathy of the players."
Ray Comiskey, Irish Times

"The trio melds Brahem's haunting oud virtuosity with impressionistic splashes of French café society. Melodic, graceful, and moving, Le Voyage de Sahar will linger in your mind's eye and ear."
David Lynch, Austin Chronicle

Tracks included:
Sur le fleuve
Le voyage de Sahar
L'Aube
Vague / E la nave va
Les jardins de Ziryab
Nuba La chambre Cordoba
Halfaouine
La chambre var.
Zarabanda
Eté andalous
Vague var.

What they say about NI..