Hamza el Din has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the world's great oud players, and the mastery he displays here quickly establishes just why he's so lauded.
The virtuosity shown on "Greetings," for example, is a sheer delight, his nimble and thoughtful fingers creating lovely melodies behind the vocals of Shizuru Ohtaka.
But it's on "Sunset," which is variations on a theme by Riad el Sumbati, that the power of his playing truly begins to shine.
Completely solo, he works in the maqam, or scale, building his work.
However, he's not afraid to leave his oud behind, and just use rhythm, as he does on "Nagrishad," where the only instruments are beaten and the vocal carries the only melody.
But the centerpiece is the title track, a gorgeous song graced by the cello of Joan Jeanrenaud and W.A.
Mathieu's piano, which, with their Western tunings, bring the piece to a place that's not completely of el Din's Nubian homeland.
It's a lovely work whose themes resonate and last long after the CD, and it might well be the most accessible -- at least to Western ears -- music that el Din's composed in a long career.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GreetingsHamza el Din | Hamza el Din | Play | 07:44 | 17 MB | 45 MB |
| 2 | SunsetHamza el Din | Hamza el Din | Play | 10:33 | 24 MB | 54 MB |
| 3 | AnesiguHamza el Din | Hamza el Din | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 4 | Griffin 2Hamza el Din | Hamza el Din | Play | 11:10 | 25 MB | 63 MB |
| 5 | NagrishadHamza el Din | Hamza el Din | Play | 07:11 | 16 MB | 40 MB |
| 6 | Samai HusainiKemani Tatyos Efendi | Hamza el Din | Play | 06:45 | 15 MB | 32 MB |
| 7 | A WishHamza el Din | Hamza el Din | Play | 09:04 | 20 MB | 51 MB |
| 56 mins | 129 MB | |||||
| 56 mins | 312 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amy Cyr | Nay |
| 2 | Kemani Tatyos Efendi | Composer |
| 3 | Hamza el Din | Artwork, Audio Production, Composer, Handclapping, Liner Notes, Oud, Primary Artist, Producer, Realization, Taragat, Vocals |
| 4 | Joan Jeanrenaud | Cello, Clarinet, Guest Artist |
| 5 | Howard Johnston | Audio Engineer, Engineer, Mixing |
| 6 | Justin Lieberman | Engineer |
| 7 | William Allaudin Mathieu | Arranger, Editing, Guest Artist, Piano |
| 8 | Hani Naser | Clay Drums, Doumbek |
| 9 | Shizuru Ohtaka | Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 10 | Shabda Owens | Audio Production, Handclapping, Producer |
| 11 | Tami Simon | Executive Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |