TAREK ABDALLAH ET ADEL SHAMS EL DIN

Reviving the wasla, the knowledgeable musical sequence of Arab tradition that had its heyday in the late nineteenth-early twentieth century, Tarek Abdallah and Adel Shams el-Din masterfully explore the treasures of this instrumental and vocal Egyptian expression consisting of twelve, seventeen or nineteen-time cycles. On the undulating curls of Egyptian oud and the convulsions of riqq (classical Arab tambourine), these virtuosos from Alexandria display with goldsmiths precision graceful ornamentation and the fascinating depths of a forgotten musical style that gives way to chiselled compositions as well as inspired improvisations.