Safa

Palestinian oud virtuoso Nizar Rohana returns with his third album Safa, which is a completely solo effort. While Rohana is known for collaborating with other artists (including Bishara Khell who acted as a ‘composition mentor’ for this album) and groups from different cultures, Safa showcases Rohana’s talent of playing in an unmistakably classical Arab standard, otherwise known as maqamat. However, the main issues with the record are that there’s no versatility, no rhythm section, no room for experimentation or a change in sound, so all Safa’s ten tracks begin to merge into one, making it hard to distinguish between the different tracks. As a result, the record has a certain monotonous quality to anyone unfamiliar with the source material. Which is a shame as Rohana’s oud playing is strong, with some great tonal shifts, but they are not enough to stop Safa from being an okay, but not great, album.