Anouar Brahem – “Barzakh” 35th Anniversary

The first album by Anouar Brahem, Barzakh, was released 35 years ago.

Barzakh, Anouar Brahem’s debut album, was recorded in September 1990 and released on ECM the following year. On the Manfred Eicher produced record, the Tunisian oud player is heard in a trio with violinist Béchir Selmi and percussionist Lassad Hosni.

Upon its release, The Wire called the music “uncompromisingly improvisational, a meeting place for all cultures and times…”

“A CD like Barzakh feels like a revelation. Here, an Arab musician takes a step outside his musical world, showing interest in the production aesthetics of a label, in the possibilities that purely instrumental composition offers for improvisation, and in sounds from beyond the Mediterranean—from Spain, from France. Barzakh is an open-minded endeavor, a hand extended in friendship.” – Süddeutsche Zeitung