A l’Ombre des Mots

The Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish inspired and collaborated with numerous musicians during his lifetime. The work he left has already been celebrated in Anouar Brahem’s ravishing Astounding Eyes of Rita (a TOTW in #65) but A l'Ombre des Mots continues his collaborations beyond the grave. Trio Joubran have already established themselves as one of the most creative forces in contemporary Arab music and their minimalist, shimmering musical textures are the perfect foil for the stark imagery of Darwish’s poetry. On this live recording – made on the 40th day after the poet’s death in August 2009 – the brothers’ performances accompany recordings of the poet’s voice and provide musical interludes. To Arabic speakers this combination is sure to be utterly spine–tingling in its intensity for, though Darwish is best known as a commentator on the Palestinian struggle, his poems go far beyond that single issue.

The sound and rhythm of his speech is mesmeric but, without a sound knowledge of the language, some of the effect is lost on disc – even with the French translations in the liner notes to hand. The accompanying live DVD (with French subtitles) gives us a clearer glimpse of the piece’s austere power. On the basis of this, you should gleefully pawn your soul to whatever infernal power might offer you a brace of tickets for a netherworld concert performance.