Maqâm Roads

Zied Zouari is a violin virtuoso who was surely destined to specialise in fusion styles. Born into a family of musicians in Tunisia, he was hailed as a child prodigy, and went on to study classical, Arabic and Turkish music, work with a French jazz guitarist and a symphony orchestra, and tour with different bands including the French-Tunisian Cantatas des Rives. All those influences can be heard here, on a set in which he is joined by two excellent musicians: the Turkish singer, bass and saz (lute) player Abdurrahman Tarikçi and the French percussionist Julien Tekeyan, who has worked with Khaled. They start with ‘Tunisian Complaint’, a gently mournful instrumental dominated by Zouari's violin work, in which he shows off his technical skill and ability to change tempo. Then they move on to ‘Flowers’, in which Tarikçi demonstrates his fine vocals on a cool, elegant track that veers off into a jazz workout. So it continues. There is more impressive singing, and saz playing from Tarikçi on ‘Introduction Lettre à Ikbel', fine violin work on the upbeat ‘Egyptian Notice’, and rapid-fire playing and yet more changes of tempo on ‘Air from India’. Maqâm Roads is an unfocused set, yes, but a classy and sophisticated one.