For almost forty years and with a rich discography now covering no less than 11 albums on the ECM label, Anouar Brahem has been constantly placing the age-old tradition of Arab music, whose emblem is his oud and its superb finesse, in different situations, where he not only contrasts it to modern jazz but also to the sophisticated harmonies of the erudite compositional tradition of the West and the refined forms of other ancient cultural traditions from the Orient.

Today, he can draw on the experience he has gathered over the years in his concerts with other musicians. Here he has decided to commit with the Quartet created in 2009for the album The Astounding Eyes of Rita, to a project returning to his former terrain for the first time ever through a repertoire combining several of the group’s usual themes, together with some taken from older albums (Conte de l'incroyable amour, Madar, Thimar, Astrakan Café...)

As leader of this group, more lively and creative than ever after ten years of close understanding between himself and his musicians, Anouar Brahem is now casting a fresh look at his musical universe and opening up some original horizons for it.

Performers:

Anouar Brahem: oud

Klaus Gesing: bass clarinet, soprano saxophone

Björn Meyer: bass

Khaled Yassine: darbouka, bendie

Co-produced by ArtStage and Vaak Records