Anouar Brahem – Astrakan Cafe (CD, Ecm)

Astrakan is located where the Volga fans out into the Caspian Sea. But Astrakan is not just a Russian city, it is representative of many places in the region influenced by Arabic in the broadest sense — from Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to the Balkans, Turkey to Tunisia and Tanzania. So the rough default direction is east. Astrakan Café, the title of the Anouhar Brahem Trio album, also refers to the component of encounter: the café as a place of communication and encounter, but also as a keeper of cultural achievements and traditions.

The Tunisian oud player Brahem is a master on his instrument, as is his compatriot, the percussionist Lassad Hosni, and the Turkish clarinettist Barbaros Erköse on their instruments. The plaintive voice of the clarinet rises above a fine network of interwoven rhythms and string sounds and seems to carry the entire melodic-sound intensity of the Balkans in every piece. And enters into a relationship with the modal, simple and at the same time ornate playing on the lute that cannot be more intense.