The oud, a Middle Eastern lute, has never been a prominent instrument in jazz; in fact, it is safe to say that there are quite a few jazz musicians who have never heard of the oud and have no idea what it sounds like. But the oud is ultra-famous in traditional Arabic, Middle Eastern, and North African music, and it works pleasingly well as an avant-garde jazz instrument on Israeli pianist
Yitzhak Yedid
's
Suite in Five Movements
. Recorded in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2006, this release finds
Yedid
forming a cohesive acoustic trio with oud player
Mikhail Maroun
and bassist
Ora Boasson Horev
-- and
doesn't treat
Maroun
like a mere afterthought. Not at all. In fact,
features
extensively on this 72-minute CD, which is devoted to a five-movement suite that combines avant-garde jazz with Middle Eastern music and incorporates Euro-classical elements as well. The performances are not radically avant-garde, but they are mildly avant-garde -- and although
has some
Cecil Taylor-ish
moments as a pianist,
is far from an exercise in atonal chaos. An inside/outside approach prevails that, for all its abstraction, is still decidedly musical.
is not an easy recording to absorb on the first listen, but the more one listens to
,
, and
Horev
's performances, the more he/she appreciates all of the intriguing twists and turns that go into them. Thoughtfulness and a healthy sense of adventure are both major assets on this excellent disc. ~ Alex Henderson