Rabih Abou-Khalil

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Rabih Abou-Khalil (born August 17, 1957 in Lebanon) is an oud player and composer. He occasionally performs on flute.

Contents

[edit] Life

Rabih Abouh-Khalil grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Germany during the civil war in 1978. He still lives in Munich. Rabih Abou-Khalil married a Slovenian-born German and has two children.

[edit] Music

From early on, he learnt to play the oud, a fretless string instrument, similar to the European lute or Greek bouzouki. He studied in the Beirut conservatory from oud virtuoso Georges Farah. After moving to Germany, he studied classical flute at the Academy of Music in Munich under Walther Theurer.

He has often blended traditional Arab music and Turkish music with jazz, and has earned praise such as "a world musician years before the phrase became a label — makes the hot, staccato Middle Eastern flavour and the seamless grooves of jazz mingle as if they were always meant to." [1] Together with Anouar Brahem he has helped highlight the oud as a vehicle of eclectic "world jazz". Abou-Khalil's oud playing style has often been likened to jazz guitar: "Abou-Khalil spins more oud notes in 10 seconds than most jazz guitarists do in their short commercial lifespans." [2]

Abou-Khalil's music uses elements from both the Turkish and Arab music traditions, together with many jazz references, particularly to the school of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, which itself broke ground in terms of introducing new global influences. Jazz elements are present in most of his recorded work, for instance in the use of the acoustic pizzicato bass, generally played by recognized jazz musicians like Steve Swallow and Glen Moore. At the Beijing Jazz Festival of 2003 he performed to great acclaim accompanied by tuba and clarinet as well as the percussion he has always favoured.

[edit] Albums

In his first CD release for the ECM company, Nafas, (1988) largely traditional Arabic elements are to the fore, although a combination of drums of different national origin signals the eclecticism to come. In Al-Jadida and Blue Camel, (1992) the former with alto saxophonist Sonny Fortune and the latter with another eclectic, altoist, Charlie Mariano, and the flugelhorn player Kenny Wheeler, Turkish influence comes to the fore, in the form of complex time signatures (like 11/4 for the composition "Sahara"). Classical Turkish metres like 10/8 (phrased as 3+2+2+3), are found widely in Abou-Khalil's opus ("Nightfall" on Between Dusk and Dawn, "Ziriab" on Blue Camel, "After Dinner" on Tarab, and "On A Bus " on Yara). In recent years mixtures of these metres have emerged, setting new standards in complexity while retaining freshness, wit and the jazz value of swing.

Nafas and Tarab make use of the ney, the Turkish end-blown flute. 1995's Arabian Waltz featured Abou-Khalil's compositions for string quartet (performed by the Balanescu Quartet), along with oud, tuba (or serpent), and frame drums.

Morton's foot (2004) brings in Luciano Biondini on accordion and Sardinian singer Gavino Murgia whose base vocals evoke Tibetan throat singing to create a unique and bizarrly exotic blend of European and Eastern traditions.

Journey to the Centre of an Egg (2005) features a trio of oud, piano (Joachim Kuhn doubling on alto saxaphone) and drums.

Live performances have made heavy use of digital vocalisation devices, and the end of these innovations is not in sight. Abou-Khalil and his associates are arguably creating a new international platform for improvised music, comparable to John McLaughlin and his associates in Shakti.

[edit] Visions of Music

Rabih Abou-Khalil hosted the television series Visions of Music. This 13-part documentary series produced by EuroArts Entertainment set out to explore the blending of jazz with traditional music (Caribbean salsa, Brazilian samba, Argentine tango, French musette, Spanish flamenco, Jewish klezmer, New Orleans R&B and Mississippi blues, as well as West African, South African, Indian and Middle Eastern music) through historical footage and interviews of musicians (by Abou-Khalil). The music of the TV-series was released on the album Visions of Music - World Jazz by Enja Records in 1998.

[edit] Humor

Humor is a very important ingredient in Abou-Khalil's art and live performances. For instance, the song Dr. Gieler's Weiner Schnitzel (Morton's Foot, 2004) is inspired by an alleged Austrian dentist who settles in Abu-Dhabi to open a restaurant where his Wiener Schnitzel soon establishes a reputation for healing the blind and deaf. The restaurant, however, is banned and closed by the authorities which forces Dr. Geiler back to Austria where he is now selling ties to businessmen. Various compositions are inspired by such humorous stories, common to many is the absurdity of "commuting between cultures".

[edit] CD cover design

Tarab

Rabih Abou-Khalil's CD-s are conspicuous for their high quality covers depicting Arabic non-figurative art, some designed by the author himself.

[edit] Major/recent collaborators

[edit] Discography

  • Compositions & Improvisations (MMP, 1981)
  • Bitter Harvest (MMP, 1984)
  • Between Dusk And Dawn (MMP, 1987; Enja, 1993)
  • Bukra (MMP, 1988; Enja, 1994)
  • Nafas (ECM, 1988)
  • Roots & Sprouts (MMP/Enja, 1990)
  • World Music Orchestra: East West Suite (Granit Records, 1990)
  • Al-Jadida (Enja, 1990)
  • Blue Camel (Enja, 1992)
  • Tarab (Enja, 1992)
  • The Sultan's Picnic (Enja, 1994)
  • Arabian Waltz (Enja, 1996)
  • Odd Times (Enja, 1997)
  • Yara (Enja, 1998)
  • The Cactus Of Knowledge (Enja, 2001)
  • Il Sospiro (Enja, 2002)
  • Morton's foot (Enja, 2004)
  • Journey to the centre of an egg (2005)

[edit] As guest musician

  • Chris Karrer: Dervish Kish (Schneeball/Indigo, 1990/91)
  • Michael Riessler: Heloise (Wergo, 1992)
  • Charlie Mariano & Friends: Seventy (veraBra records, 1993)
  • Glen Moore: Nude Bass Ascending (Intuition, 1996/97)
  • Ramesh Shotam: Madras Special (Permission Music, 2002)

[edit] Other

  • Jakob Wertheim & Rabih Abou-Khalil: KopfKino (cassette, Ohrbuch Verlag, 1988)
  • The Jazz Club Highlights (DVD, TDK JAZZ CLUB, 1990)
  • Rabih Abou-Khalil presents Visions of Music - World Jazz (accompanying TV series, Enja, 1999)

[edit] External links

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