Daily Listen by Brian Brock

One of the most consistently great musicians of the latter 20th century.

Escalay (The Water Wheel) was a beautiful high mountain dale speckled with stone houses full of singing and barns full of happy cows, in which a man has grown and passed by his youth.  Then one day his cow gets lost, his horse bolts, he finds himself at a crack between the hills, and sees that there is another village, another valley, full of sheep and wooden houses.  That’s Al Oud.

This one might even be better overall than Escalay, which as I have written is just barely overdone with recording studio bother.  Al Oud has a certain sibilance which bothers at times, but it’s very natural sounding.  The compositions and playing are just incredible here, too.  Although the tune Escalay is irrevocably a half-hour piece of music, and has to stand as Hamza’s great work, I think he actually does better with short pieces.  His unit of composition is about a minute and a half, so he can play an A section, B section, and A prime in about 4:30.