Levantine Indulgence by Gaida
LABEL: Palmyra Recordings
  
It's often a difficult task to find a record that not only reconciles two (or more) distinctive styles, but does it naturally and seemingly without effort. New York's Gaida, one part Syrian folk and one part vintage jazz, has offered us such a charming oddity with Levantine Indulgence, an album that embraces aspects of both genres without self-conscious posturing or preconceptions about where, precisely, it needs to stand. If you've ever listened to traditional music from West Asia and older jazz, you will be amazed at how well they compliment each other. If you haven't, it remains an irresistible and charming listen.

Levantine Indulgence does a remarkable job in demonstrating just how similar the two forms are in structure and encouragement of individual instruments. Apart from "Indulgence" and "Salam Min Dimashq", most of the songs are kept short and sweet, the jazz side of things probably owing more to the likes of Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday than Charles Mingus or Ornette Coleman. Gaida herself is the focus on the album, and the careful construction of songs takes center stage over improvisation and long instrumental passages, with few exceptions.

“If you've ever listened to traditional music from West Asia and older jazz, you will be amazed at how well they compliment each other. If you haven't, it remains an irresistible and charming listen.”

The production on the album is perfect: smooth, intimate, and roomy, simulating a lightly populated jazz club on a hot night. It has a very warm almost-vinyl sound that helps the vintage lounge sound significantly. This is an album whose intentions could have been destroyed by too much low-end or reverb but manages to exist without too much awareness of demands from the outside.

If there is a fault on the record, it might be that it feels restrained at times, as if Gaida and her musicians are a little uncomfortable really pushing themselves to the limits with some possibility of stumbling. Ultimately, the sacrifice of the album is cohesiveness and solidity over energy and fire, two elements vital to both jazz and traditional music as a whole. However, Levantine Indulgence remains a compelling entry point for this new form Gaida has summoned up and anyone interested in the possibilities of musical hybridity could be missing something great by not taking notice.


REVIEWED BY NEIL LEVENS
NEIL'S FAVORITE TRACKS: "Ammar" • "Indulgence" • "Ghayeb"