Gordon Grdina: Night's Quietest Hour

Gordon Grdina might be proof of the saying "you can't keep a good man down." With Night's Quietest Hour he turns his attention once again to traditional Iraqi and Arabic folk music. This release by his small big band Haram follows Her Eyes illuminate (Songlines, 2012) and includes a guest appearance by Marc Ribot. Much like Ribot's forays into Cuban music with his Los Cubanos Postizos and Frantz Casseus' Haitian compositions, Grdina aspires for musical authenticity without being patronizing. And, as with Ribot's foray into new music, let's not call this music fusion. Grdina covers traditional music and compositions by Kevser Hanim, Salah Ben Al Badiya, and Ahmad Al Jaberi with solos and improvisation additions that honor the original objectives of the music.

Ribot's distinctive guitar opens "Longa Nahawand" followed by Grdina'a oud. Eventually the entire ensemble follows, ramping up the intensity and tempo of the music with JP Carter delivering an echoey, eerie trumpet solo over violin. In other improvised contexts he may wield a mean guitar, but Grdina sticks to oud on this one. In the odd metered "Dulab Bayati" we travel to Syria with Grdina accenting the track with some dazzling speed plus Ribot adding a textured electric guitar background.

Emad Armoush sings the Arabic poem "Lamma Bada Yatathanna (When She Begins to Sway)" and even without comprehending the words you grasp the beauty and delicacy of its intention. Ending with "Hawj Erreeh (Violent Wind)," the band breaks into what can only be described as a bluesy big band tune. Try to not dance to this track,