ECM Records JAN GARBAREK, ANOUAR BRAHEM, SHAUKAT HUSSAIN: MADAR CD

In a review of one of their early performances together, writer Wolfgang Sandner made the interesting point that Tunisian oud virtuoso Anouar Brahem is as far removed from Arab music as it is traditionally played in his homeland as Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek is from the jazz mainstream.

Certainly, Brahem and Garbarek are two very independent spirits, outsiders who meet here as equals – accompanied, on parts of this intriguing, often thrilling, production by a third original, the Pakistani tabla master, Ustad Shaukat Hussain.