Hiva

Ahmad Al Khatib and Kaveh Mahmudiyan have created Hiva, an album of traditional Ottoman-styled oud and percussion commissioned by Global Oslo Music in 2023. It’s needless to say, the oud is omnipresent in traditional Middle Eastern music, but what isn’t as well known is the presence of the tombak, an Iranian hand drum that is the sole form of rhythm on Hiva, played by Kaveh Mahmudiyan. The music bases itself on classical Arabic structures as well as folk music, which means it contains a nice juxtaposition of styles. Though there are only six tracks, the album is just under an hour long with two tracks over ten minutes long and plenty of evolution within each composition. Opening track ‘Hiva’ feels like three tracks in one, as there are different sections within – one where the oud is dominant, one featuring the frenetic finger-tapping of the tombak, and another where both instruments interplay. And that seems to be the formula and also its sticking point, as there’s not a lot of variation beyond this. An enjoyable listen but not particularly groundbreaking.