Forgotten treasures - The Hour of Separation 

 

"Love knows not its depth until the Hour of Separation."
Kahlil Gibran

 

Today, in our series of forgotten treasures, we look at Joseph Tawadros' deep, classic and innovative album "The Hour of Separation", released by Enja in 2010. This record found us and called us to the now defunct Istanbul music treasury Lale Plak. It was the year the album came out. The unusual combination of instruments and the playing of the Tawadros’ oud with classical jazz instruments somehow attracted us so much that it did not leave us to this day. We will first say a few words about the musicians who recorded this masterpiece, and then we will look at the philosophy of the album.

So, the company of Joseph Tawadros (author of all compositions) keep his brother James Tawadros on percussion, John Abercrombie on electric guitar, John Patitucci on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Gathering such big names in jazz for this project speaks for itself about the high bar that was set at the very beginning. Funny documentary videos from the recording of the album in New York show Jack DeJohnette and his attempts to master the Egyptian percussion, or John Patitucci, who is trying to follow with his bass the insane speed of the oud in the hands of Tawadros. And the late Abercrombie is in nirvana and a complete fusion with the mystical sound.

The name of the album - The Hour of Separation - is a quote of the great poet of the 20th century Kahlil Gibran and the now classic "The Prophet". The whole line reads, "Love knows not its depth until the hour of separation." And as pessimistic as it may seem at first glance, the phrase taken actually describes the true two sides of this eternal dualistic opposition between light and shadow, strength and weakness, gathering and dividing, life and death…

Such is the rhythm of the whole album - pulsating, alive, mystical, somewhat lyrical, changeable and uniting East and West.

We let this magic enchant us again with the piece The Hour.

Our usual recommendation - listen with a good sound system or on headphones to enjoy the richness of music.

You can find the entire album The Hour of Separation, which you can hear here, also on digital platforms.

You can learn more about Joseph Tawadros here.

And here.

 

August 2021

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