Stranger in my Homeland

Born in 1970 in Shfara'am, a small town near Nazareth in Galilee, Hosam Hayek created several ensembles in his homeland, where he also teaches Arab music in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This is his recording debut. Hayek leads a group of Turkish musicians based on the core of the Taksim Trio (Hüsnü Şenlendirici, Aytaç Doğan and ismail Tunçbilek) variously augmented with bass, cello, keyboards and percussion. The compositions are mostly his own, except for a cover of ‘Hungarian Dance’ and ‘Aatini Ennay’, a Najeeb Hankash tune brought to fame by Fairuz.

The Palestinian worked for a full year in Istanbul with the Turkish musicians, who do an admirable job of putting their talents in total support of his stark and melancholic concept. The daily events of the Gaza strip are becoming a focus of contention in Turkey's relationship with Israel and, while not making any open political statements, this CD does reflect the general situation. Hayek is an extremely talented performer on the oud (lute), as shown in original solo improvisations in the ‘Bayat’ and ‘Nahawandi’ modes, using classic techniques along with guitar-like passages; his compositions have the elegant proportions of Ottoman music but the group plays them with jazz-tinged tones and interaction. Both a Huzam semai (an Ottoman classical form) and the title-track are excellent examples of his tightly controlled, powerful style.