by Don Berryman
I’ve been a follower of the music of the Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem for many years and was delighted to hear his exquisitely beautiful new album. After the Last Sky features Brahem on oud, Anja Lechner on cello, Django Bates on piano, and Dave Holland on bass. It will be released by ECM records in March 2025 as a double LP and also CD. This comes eight years after his last ECM album, the critically acclaimed Blue Maqams which also featured Bates and Holland along with Jack DeJonette on drums. Dave Holland had first recorded with Anouar Brahem on Thimar in 1997 and they discovered the musical chemistry between them.
The title of this album comes from the lines “Where should we go after the last frontiers? Where should the birds fly after the last sky?” These are from the poem “The Earth is Closing on Us” by the poet Mahmoud Darwish. It also references the book After The Last Sky, Edward Said’s meditation on exile and memory. Edward Said is remembered with Anouar Brahem’s composition “Edward Said’s Reverie”, which is the tenth track on this album.
After the Last Sky is the first recording that Anouar Brahem has made with a cellist. Anja Lechner adds a lyrical voice and the warm round tone of her cello complements the timbre and persuasive attack of the oud. The cello is the dominant voice in many of the tracks. Brahem has a history of blending musical styles as well as instruments. Speaking of Arabic maqams Brahem said, “I find it exciting to juxtapose these ancient modal structures with harmonic approaches from jazz, creating a dialogue between past and present, between cultures and styles.” All of the songs on the album were composed by Brahem except “The Eternal Olive Tree” which shares writing credit with Dave Holland.
The opening track doesn’t feature the oud at all, rather it’s a somber and beautiful duet between cello and piano called “Remembering Hind”. It was written in memory of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by Israeli forces in January of last year, during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
The title track “After the Last Sky” opens with the oud solo, which is then joined by Bates on piano, with the entire ensemble joining in elaborating on the motif introduced in the opening, leading to a plaintive solo on cello and ending with a solo bass.
“Endless Wandering” is filled with intensity, building tension followed by partial resolution leading to tension again followed by another plateau. That pattern continues as the music takes the listener on a climbing trek as each player is given the lead in turn.
“The Eternal Olive Tree” is a duet between oud and bass that demonstrates the interplay between two masters of their instruments engaged in a mesmerizing musical conversation.
Click here to listen to the track “Awake”
“In The Shade Of Your Eyes” is a duet between Brahem and Anja Lechner which opens with a beautiful cello solo leading to an oud solo with cello providing a supporting drone underneath and closing with two playing the melody in unison.
“Dancing Under the Meteorites” is a joyful tango style romp that includes Bates piano solo over an erie, raspily bowed, overtone laden cello part. It then features another oud and bass conversation.
After the Last Sky was recorded at Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in May 2024, and the sound is clear and perfectly balanced. The included liner notes booklet contains a powerful essay by Adam Shatz, who has traveled and reported extensively in the Middle East and North Africa for The Nation, the London Review of Books and for the New York Review of Books.
Track listing
- Remembering Hind 1:52
- After the Last Sky 5:42
- Endless Wandering 8:11
- The Eternal Olive Tree 4:00
- Awake 8:49
- In the Shade of Your Eyes 4:27
- Dancing Under the Meteorites 4:25
- The Sweet Oranges of Jaffa 7:13
- Never Forget 7:49
- Edward Said’s Reverie 2:58
- Vague 3:13
Link to original Jazz Police article:https://jazzpolice.com/archives/16890
