Passport

Born in Lebanon into a family with a rich artistic history, 27-year-old pianist Rahbany's debut album is an ambitious work that took three years to record and features 180 collaborators from a dozen different nationalities – a global collage that reflects the cosmopolitan identity of his base in Beirut, a city with three languages and 18 religions. With a compositional style heavily rooted in classical and modern jazz, the opening ‘Overture’, played by the Kiev City Symphonic Orchestra, sounds like Aaron Copland arranging a John Williams film score. ‘Programmusik: Babel’ – which features Rahbany's electric keyboards, Wayne Krantz on electric guitar and an impressive horn section – is a noodling melange of post-Weather Report jazz-rock. Probably of greater interest to Songlines readers will be the tracks with a more overtly Eastern flavour. ‘Umbrella Woman’ features the haunting voice of Ghada Nehme over a brooding minor-key piano and strings accompaniment. She's heard again on ‘Tango’, which might just be the most exciting take on the genre since Gotan Project. The male voice of Loyal El Mir takes over on the experimental, left-field ‘Anarkia’, while ‘Mouwashahat’ is a lovely Oriental jazz tune.