Resonance/Dissonance

A solo oud recording is an ambitious undertaking for any player. Even if you can hold your listeners’ attention for an hour with only a single melodic line, there is another more particular problem. An oud taqasim (instrumental improvisation) is, by its very nature, of the moment – a spontaneous invention inspired by a chosen mode. Make it too impulsive and it may not bear repeated listening; structure it too carefully and it can lose its sparkle. Remarkably few players get this balance right. But Khyam Allami's first album nails it to perfection. Having started playing the instrument only seven years ago, this Damascus-born London resident is a relative newcomer to the oud; nonetheless he is already an exceptionally refined and graceful performer. He epitomises the best of the new generation of oud players whose roots lie in the Eastern tradition but who also judiciously draw on a wider range of contemporary influences. While Allami may not have the celestial touch of Driss El Maloumi or the mercurial fire of Naseer Shamma, his compositions are utterly bewitching. Included with the CD is a 50 minute DVD of Allami playing live with percussionist Vasilis Sarikis in a vast Bermondsey warehouse, the ideal backdrop for his stark meditations. To describe Oriental music as hypnotic sails precariously close to Victorian cliché, but it is the best description of Khyam Allami's mesmeric style.