Wish List

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Two instruments I've always wanted to learn to play but have never gotten around to getting to grips with are the tabla and the double bass. As both instruments can be costly, unless I strike lucky with the Lottery, I might have to pass on them. I'm just listening to a CD I purchased which arrived today: Glow, by Dhafer Youssef & Wolfgang Muthspiel. The former I already have in my music collection and the latter I chanced on at random the other week. How I've never heard of Wolfgang Muthspiel before then is a mystery - wonderful musician and multi-instrumentalist. I mentioned him to the Jazz Oracle, Johnny K and he hadn't discovered him either, which I think is a first!

The album is not recent, but I took a recommendation that is was a goodie and bought it. It was recorded 2006/7 and combines jazz and arabic modes to great effect. Youssef draws on Indian, Arabic, Jazz, Electronic and many other influences, but seems always to centre on those Arabic/North African modes. On this album, the guitar of Muthspiel and Youssef's Oud playing gel beautifully. So, add to my short-bucket-list-of-instruments-to-learn the Oud; that magnificent member of the lute family so ably wielded here. That's three, then...

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