Record Reviews

WASSIM IBRAHIM ~ PIESNI LEWANTU NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ World Music & Folklore Recorded: 2022 Released: 2022 The distance between Haifa, where I live, and Damascus, where Wassim IbrahimFind albums by this artist was born, is only 144 kilometers. If we lived in a normal world, this would have been just an easy one hour ride on a motorway. But no, we don’t live in a normal world and I can’t travel to Damascus to visit Wassim and have a coffee together and listen to him sing, in his beautiful city, which used to be for many centuries one of the epicenters of Middle Eastern science, philosophy, poetry, trade, music, gastronomy and yes, also co-existence. Instead, we meet virtually via Poland, the country where I was born and he now lives, makes music, sings and teaches in the beautiful historic city of Krakow. On this album Wassim sings eleven beautiful mostly love songs, which originate in Syria and surrounding countries, mostly Folk songs, which to Polish listeners might sound strange, and “oriental”, but to me sound completely familiar, as if my own, a music which I learned to love over the decades of my life here, in the Levant. Wassim accompanies himself playing the oud, the most widespread instrument in our region, and is accompanied only by percussion player Tomas Celis SanchezFind albums by this artist, born in Mexico and now also living in Poland, who might have passed easily as “one of us”, judging by the way he plays the darbuka, skillfully maneuvering through the intricate rhythmic patterns that characterize this music. I can only think of one reason why Wassim would release this album in Poland; he is obviously seriously homesick and these songs that he must have heard from his early childhood are for him a “home away from home”. But of course this is also a wonderful window into the Middle Eastern culture, perhaps a first step for people who might discover the musical treasures of the Levant via this music. The album is beautifully packaged in a highly Artistic, aesthetically designed and very informative packaging with bi-lingual texts, and the recording quality is just spot on. Overall, this a superb piece of Middle Eastern music, intimate and completely personal, which displays just one of the infinite number of facets that the local Culture has to offer. People unfamiliar with this music might be somewhat taken aback at first, but it does not take long to discover the beauty of this music, and join the magic carpet ride over Damascus streets and markets. Mabruk WaShukran Wassim!

Updated: 23/03/2023Posted: 23/03/2023

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