Search - Didier Malherbe :: Hadouk

Gnomerique Musical Fantasy

PHP 46 | Taj Mahal | 10/14/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Didier Malherbe, the outstanding sax player in Gong, presents us with a collection of wind instrument tunes, but these melodies are coloured with ethnic variegations. Someimes even like circs or street market music from the mystickal East. An instrumental album that will appeal to PHP's, it would als appeal to visiting parents and relatives...simply put, an album of marvellous simplicity coloured with infinitea. Not something to rock out to, but something to enjoy a nice fireside and some realitea with, on a cold dark night. Very nice indeed."

EMBRACING THE WORLD WITH THEIR HEARTS AND HANDS...

Larry L. Looney | Austin, Texas USA | 05/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fans of European progressive rock music of the 1970s will no doubt have run across the eccentric work of the band Gong - their music was infused with humor and drug references and incredibly imaginative playing. Didier Malherbe was the saxophonist for that ensemble - the music on this disc shows that the talent he displayed on their recordings was very real indeed. Teamed here with multi-instrumentalist Loy Ehrlich, this release (from 1997) shows the love these two players have for the amazing array of musical styles and traditions to be found on our planet - armed with well over twenty different ethnic wind, string and percussion instruments from Asia, Europe and Africa, as well as more commonly-used Western instruments as Malherbe's magic saxes and Ehrlich's keyboards, they create a fascinating, entertaining and exceptionally beautiful mix of true `world' music. This is no bland new-age distillation or ambient mediation work - the music on this disc is completely joyful and celebratory. The ecstasy experienced by these two musicians in playing here is audible and palpable - it's a wonder to behold.Malherbe and Ehrlich utilize multi-tracking technology to play all of the instruments themselves - there are no other musicians on the recording - but it comes across with such honesty and feeling that nowhere during the course of the album did I get the feeling that it was anything but true ensemble playing. It's that flawless - but at the same time filled with emotion, never coming across as cold reproduction. They make no claims at being ethnomusicological scholars - they're doing this out of sheer love of the instruments and the music they can create. They are passing the sprit of the various ethnic styles represented by the tools they employ through their very hearts and souls, into the ears of the listener.From viewing Didier's website, I can see that there are further recordings exploring the techniques and paths taken here for the first time in the studio, and that with a third member, they have appeared as the Hadouk Trio - I'd love to hear more examples of this."

Needs to be heard by more

Sax Lover | 11/16/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This music needs to be heard by more people; it is a shame that there is little airplay or promotion in the USA. Other reviews already provide well-stated info on this CD; so I will simply note that subsequent releases from Hadouk Trio expand upon this first exploration of Hadouk musical ideas to a five-star degree.



This CD has less continuity than later releases if heard in sequence, but it has a few gems that one never tires of hearing again & again. The name "Hadouk" combines the words 'hajouj,' a Moroccan 3-stringed bass, and 'doudouk,' an Armenian double-reed wind instrument, but the trio makes use of a wide array of instruments to create exuberant, uplifting 'World Music.'



Buy this & the other releases before they are no longer available. If you've made it this far to these reviews, you will no doubt be glad you did. And check [...] for much more info, videos, & music."