Abu Nawas Rhapsody

The titles of past albums by the Tunisian-born oud (lute) player and singer Dhafer Youssef mapped out a story: Electric Sufi (2001) and Digital Prophecy (2003) were indicative of a manifesto, the central policy of which was the fusion of traditional Arabic forms with contemporary sounds. On Abu Nawas Rhapsody, he strips away the electronics to work with a mainstream acoustic jazz trio comprising Chris Jennings (double bass), Mark Guiliana and the young Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan. At times their over-busy jazz-cabaret vamping irritates and seems out of step with the spiritual, rhapsodic tones of Youssef's soaring voice and his settings of the poetry of Abu Nawas, an eighth century Persian mystic. One might wish to hear more of Youssef's oud. Happily, when they play with a greater sense of serenity, the results are entirely fitting.

For the most part, it's kept discreetly in the background and Youssef pours himself into his singing, which is extraordinary and spans an improbably vast range of octaves. As he shifts from deep, rumbling bass to ethereal soprano, my initial reaction was to check the liner notes to see who was singing with him. But astonishingly, it's all Youssef. If you can endure the occasional fussiness of the jazz trio, the overall effect is one of quite sublime beauty, an expression of the ecstatic spiritual yearning known in Sufism as tajalli, although unfortunately the 16-page booklet offers no translations of Abu Nawas’ verse. Highly recommended, though jazzophobes should probably avoid.