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Dhafer Youssef - Electric Sufy (2001)

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Tracklist

1.Mandakini 5,07
2.Yabay 3,14
3.Electric sufi 4,56
4.Oil on water 2,43
5.La priere de Labsent 6,43
6.Man of wool 7,03
7.La nuit sacree 6,23
8.Nouba 6,47
9.Farha 5,34
10.Nafha 5,24
11.Al – hallaj 3,18
12.Suraj 6,13
13.Langue muette 3,33

Dhafer Youssef - oud, vocal
Wolfgang Muthspiel – guitars
Markus Stockhausen – trumpet, flugelhorn
Deepak Ram – bansuri
Dieter Ilg – acoustic bass
Doug Wimbish – electric bass, electronics
Mino Cinelu – drums, percussion, sound effects
Will Calhoun – drums, loops
Rodericke Packe – ambient sounds

Tunisian-born oud performer/vocalist Dhafer Youssef attains a happy medium while integrating the oud (an Arabic lute instrument) with jazzy grooves and wide-ranging improvisational forums. On this outing, the artist crafts an appealing worldbeat/jazz scenario partly due to his nimble plucking and mood-evoking unison choruses with trumpeter Markus Stockhausen. There's also a drum'n'bass element here, as the leader utilizes the talents of ex-Living Colour rhythmic aces Will Calhoun (drums) and Doug Wimbish (bass). Jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel adds textural patterns to many of these pieces while embarking on a pleasant mainstream jazz-based solo passage on the piece entitled "Farha." Youssef also displays a multi-octave vocal range on several tracks -- as he renders wordless vocals that often conjure up notions of religiously inclined mantras. A good portion of this affair features lightly rumbling percussion vamps intertwined with North African modalities and alternating dialogue among the soloists. A nice effort that ages well upon repeated spins. ~ Glenn Astarita

Dhafer Youssef (born 1967 in Teboulba, Tunisia) is a composer, singer, and oud player. He developed an interest in jazz at an early age and clandestinely listened to it during his education at Qur'anic school. He later left Tunisia to start a jazz career and has lived in Europe since 1990, usually in Paris or Vienna. He also works in avant garde and world music where he's been nominated for awards. He has released four albums of his own and also did notable work with Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu and the Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset. He indicates an affinity for the Music of India and Nordic music. He was a guest artist on the Norwegian jazz artist Bugge Wesseltoft's album FiLM iNG. Youssef has also performed with Uri Caine, Jon Hassell, Markus Stockhausen, Nguyên Lê and the Cuban pianist Omar Sosa. In 2001 he recorded Electric Sufi with the ex-Sugar Hill Gang and Tackhead, rhythm section of Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbish.