BaHarim: An Oud Fantasy

‘Set against a starry desert backdrop,’ Tidhar says, ‘my music is a meeting between me and the oud.’ True to his word, on BaHarim (In the Mountains), his first solo album following work with the Faran Ensemble, Durbar and Lucid, the Israeli musician explores the transformative sounds of the oud.

Playing alongside long-term percussionist Refael Ben-Zichry and bassist Nadav Erlich, Tidhar's compositions are notably sparse. The percussion and bass only feature on a few tracks, and even then fade quickly into the background. Yet that is how he wants it to be; in taking so much away from the compositions, the album becomes a closer examination of the mystical sound of the instrument.

It takes you through every melodic flicker and swirl that the oud is capable of. This blend of percussive barrenness and flair on the strings becomes reminiscent of the subdued beauty of the desert that Tidhar is trying to convey. If his aim was to mirror the stark openness of that starry desert backdrop, this album can only be considered a success.