Ayn Trio

Palestinian oud and buzuq player and composer Basel Zayed brings together fellow Palestinian Layth Sidiq on violin and Iraqi/Jordanian cellist Naseem Al-Atrash to form the Ayn Trio, a group that combine elements of Arab, Mediterranean and Western music. On this record they perform mainly instrumental arrangements of traditional and original works but there are also a couple of songs that draw from the poetry of Sufi mystics.

The track ‘Waiting’ seems to embody the compositional and performative approach that pervades the album. Here Zayed is on buzuq (a lute related to the Greek bouzouki and Turkish saz) and the three musicians take turns playing the melody. Later in the piece, accompanied by Sidiq and Al-Atrash playing a sensitive pizzicato, Zayed performs a solo that, while rapid, contains rubato and grace, creating a wonderful sense of space. Later again Al-Atrash's solo is simply stunning as he slips up and down and plays around with the maqam tonalities with the ease of a conjurer. Every track is treated with the same diligence and there are several gems to behold such as Sidiq's solo on ‘Samaa'i Nahawand’ and the sweet vocal number ‘I See in the Heavens’. This is an album worth listening to attentively.