Search - Various Artists :: Music From Arabian Nights

Fabulous, dreamy Middle Eastern magic

Rob Stuart | Utrecht, Netherlands | 04/20/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This re-release of 'Oriental Dreams' (Playasound, 1991) is fabulous in the true sense: it's redolent of fables. Imagine yourself reclining on a luxurious, hand-woven Persian rug at the fringe of a jasmine-scented oasis, sipping sweet mint tea while absent-mindedly peeling a pomegranate. The star-encrusted bowl of night seems close enough to touch, yet encompasses infinity. Palm fronds clatter and the desert sands hiss hypnotically to the zephyr's gentle caress. An almond-eyed, honey-tongued oriental beauty beguiles and enchants you with her ancient travellers' tales of sultans, fishermen, pearls and genies. All the while, you are serenaded by Kudsi Erguner's ney, Mahmoud Tebrizizadeh's santur and kemenche, and Bruno Caillat's zarb and tabla. It's pure Middle Eastern magic."