“Ajami” (2003) – Charbel Rouhana * Written and produced by Charbel Rouhana * CD: The Art of the Middle Eastern Oud: New Perspectives on Traditional Maqams * Label: Arc Music
Not long after it first appeared, the Lebanese oud master Charbel Rouhana re-recorded his Vice Versa album with the crafty new title The Art of the Middle Eastern Oud: New Perspectives on Traditional Maqams, giving it a simultaneously accessible and pedagogical quality. The polished and inviting music has probably attracted the odd disapproval from purists. Case in point: this track “Ajami,” which relies on the maqam (Arabic melody type) that corresponds closest to the Western major scale.