Just try to sit still...

I love the varities of rhythms and tonalities these five songs explore! The free tune is the tamest of the bunch, but it's still not bad. "Hkaya", for example, is like a fresh take on a Santana album cut from the early years ("Oye Como Va" from "Abraxas", maybe?) with occasional forays into something from a Middle Eastern street fair. Really engaging.

Solid World Fusion Jazz

The reviewer who compared this to elevator muzak can't tell his a** from a hole in the ground. This is solid World Fusion Jazz featuring intensely tasty guitar and oud (?) leads. Like Mike Stern playing Arabic scales over a take-no-prisoners rhythm section. Listen again to just how that snare drum is crakin' and tell me this is muzak.

Nabil Khemir

One of the reviewers thought this was elevator musak? Well maybe if you're riding an elevator in Istanbul. Let's cut to the chase. Nabil can play. This is a very interesting set of tunes. I love Indian, Middle Eastern, Slavic, Balkan music. If you like major chords and 4/4 time signatures you may not lke this release. I do. If you like this kind of stuff check out Turkish guitarist Orhan Demir (John McLaughlin sounding Turkish guitarist)or even Canadian Rock Band the Tea Party. (They've taken a page from Page's Eastern flavour Heavy Rock).

Tunisian musician Nabil Khemir plays a double-necked lute/guitar, leading his quartet on this five-track EP, tracking in at just under 30 minutes. Calling this music worldbeat or ethnic fusion is accurate, but likely tells only part of the story, as it incorporates many subtle rhythms and harmonies that suggest his native folk musics, driven with a western style beat. It is a program of lively, energetic instrumentals, based on very short melodies leaving much room for improvisation. Of the compositions, all written by Khemir, “Nadam” is clearly the most intricate and complex, but tends to quickly move through whatever lead head there is, going right into the jamming. With electric keyboards, electric bass guitar, and drum kit, the quartet really assimilates the stance of an amplified contemporary jazz or rock band, “Gitane” being the most obvious similarity to that sound with its firmly centered 4/4 beat as a base for displaying impressive licks and chops. During the quick “Hanin,” a distinction between the softer lute and harder edged guitar is quite easy to hear. “Hkaya” starts as a more traditional piece, with water sounds introducing the lute, making it clear that this group, far beyond others, has truly experienced many dreamy, exotic nights in Tunisia. What Khemir does not do is trade lines between the two necks of his instrument, à la what John McLaughlin used to do with his double six- and 12-string instrument. In a call-and-response counterpoint method, this is a vehicle that would serve the group sound well, especially impressive in live performance. This is a well-produced effort, and only a small prelude toward the music this band will eventually make. – Michael G. Nastos