Arabian Waltz (1996)

"This album is the pinnacle of Rabih Abou-Khalil's achievement as a composer and arranger. It is a sublime fusion of jazz, Middle Eastern traditional music, and Western classical. In addition to Abou-Khalil on oud (Arabic lute), Michel Godard on tuba and serpent (the tuba's antique kinsman), and Nabil Khaiat on frame drums, the album also features the Balanescu String Quartet. The presence of the Balanescu might seem to pose a dilemma for the composer: traditional Middle Eastern music uses no harmony but a string quartet is all about harmony. Abou-Khalil achieves a compromise by generally writing the string parts in unison (or in octaves), in effect using the quartet as a single voice, but also letting the quartet split up to play parts in unison with the other instruments. This creates a wondrous atmosphere, almost as if one is listening to the soundtrack of a movie set in Beirut or Damascus during the '40s. Suits every fan of world music, jazz, classical, or just good music." (Kurt Keefner, Allmusic)