Rough Guide To Arabic Cafe, The

Arabic cafes are very real things, and social oases in the warm evenings -- and this is a very good, appropriate soundtrack to twilight hours of strong caffeine consumption. There's some wonderfully strong music, whether it's the glorious, stunning oud playing of Amer Ammouri or the classic singing of Oum Kalthoum (who would bring the entire Middle East to a standstill every Thursday night with her radio broadcasts) on "Ahoya al Raieh el Mojed." Many of the names aren't as well known, like singer Amal Murkus, who brings an arresting quality to "Ya Oud," or percussionist Mahmoud Fadl. Maurice el Medioni, still a force in Algerian music, harks back in time to a more genteel era, while Tony Hanna & the Yugoslavian Gipsy Brass Band might seem like an odd choice, but they show the strong connections between Romany music and the Middle East (the word Gypsy came from Egyptian). Although it veers toward Middle Eastern jazz on a couple of cuts, by and large this is a very rooted album that keeps the sensibilities close to a Maghrebi sunset, superbly programmed and compiled, a very strong showcase of the music of the Middle East, old and new. ~ Chris Nickson|