Search - Zohar :: One Three Seven

World dance albums are a dime a dozen these days, as studio nonmusicians cut and paste exotic sounds into hip, trendy, and generally vacuous international tapestries. The Middle East-influenced Zohar escape this morass of mediocrity via their organic blend of live and sampled sounds. Zohar's composers/performers are both synthesists and musicians. The jazzy Arabic trip-hop of "Midnight at the Bazaar" is indicative of the group's approach--blending mystical Middle Eastern sounds with modern technology and styles, all the while retaining a sense of spirituality. Zohar implement a wide range of instruments, including piano, trumpet, Chapman stick, bendir, and drums, and combine them with a varied group of male and female Arabic vocalists to create compositions rich with aural textures. Some of the dreamy trumpet playing even recalls Jon Hassell. There are several moments of repetition that could have been edited down, but the group generally succeeds in its quest to create modern "soul music." --Bryan Reesman