Ahmad Jamal,the driving force behind this album,is at home in Brazil.Coaxing great blocks of shimmering sound from the piano,the great pianist defends his reputation as the most rhythmic and creative artist working on the keyboard today. Evans provides a colourful frame for the Jamal palette.Using jazz greats and conservatory trained musicians from the New York Philharmonic and other symphony orchestras he paints brilliant impressionistic portraits with strings,french horns,flutes,harps and bells.Darting in and out of the splashes of sound,Jamal rises to great heights as an artist by dominating this large and impressive orchestra." Bogota is the stand out track on the lp for me closely followed by Haitian Market Place but its all good listening and another great example of Jazz Exotica.
Nagashima, a free-spirited artist whose performances range from popular music to progressive rock to Asian music, says his fated encounter with the Oud opened doors to the world of Arabic music for him. "This distinctive melody consists of not only the 12 musical scales, but includes semitones of semitones. And of course there's the Oud with its 2000 years of history. The whole production was driven by the authentic power of the melody and the instrument itself. I've played in many genres of music, but I haven't experienced such a strong power in the melody before", Nagashima says. The simple, and yet so strong melody became the source of inspiration for Nagashima, thus creating a variety of mystical images.
![Ahmad Jamal - Macanudo [1962]](http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6392/macanudo1963qo4.jpg)
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![Hiroshi Nagashima - Oasis Road [2008]](http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/9620/oasisuw8.jpg)
