Dhafer Youssef – Street of Minarets : 9TH Album

Some albums are born from spontaneous impulsions or during random rehearsing sessions. Some others  need to be matured like good old wine – letting time do its job. Maturation is exactly what the Tunisian  Oud  Master  and  Vocalist  Dhafer  Youssef did  for  his  new  album  Street  of  Minarets.  Although  the  composition of the last album Sounds of Mirrors (2018) was quite obvious for him, combining his unique  musical touch with Indian music, Street of Minarets required 5 years of questioning and hard work. 

Let’s put this new musical journey into Dhafer’s own history. The Oud Master got into music at a very  young age through spirituality. At the age of 6, he was singing for wedding ceremonies in his native village  Téboulba (Tunisia), 25 kilometres away from Monastir. Then he discovered the Oud and kept on practicing  until he had mastered it perfectly. At the end of the 80s, Dhafer moved to Vienna to study classical music.  This  life  experience,  where  he  faced  disappointment,  loneliness  and  poverty,  turned  into  a  career  milestone when he got the opportunity to start playing in the famous Viennese Jazz Club Porgy and Bess. 

Today, his long and hard work is reflected on stage where Dhafer knows how to master musical technique  with virtuosity and a genuine energy. Even after 13 years of career, 8 albums and numerous worldwide  tours, there’s still fire in his belly. 

His character led to this new masterpiece achievement in which legendary musicians accepted to take part in : 

• Herbie Hancock on the piano 
• Marcus Miller on the bass 
• Nguyên Lê on the guitar 
• Rakesh Chaurasia on the flute 
• Adriano Dos Santos Tenori on percussions 
• Dave Holland plays the double bass 
• Vinnie Colaiuta on Drums 
• Ambrose Akinmusire on the trumpet

Dhafer confessed that he wrote the album the opposite way he normally does – he first asked who he’d  like to invite on his record and then composed the music with the guests in mind. 

Herbie Hancock was his first choice. Following his wife’s suggestion, he took the chance to ask Herbie to  join  the  recording  session.  Straight  after  the  request,  Herbie  accepted  on  a  single  and  convenient  condition – Dhafer would have to play on Herbie’s upcoming record. Like Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller took  part  in  several  Miles  Davis albums  who  profoundly  inspired  Dhafer.  With  these  two  pillars,  the  recording sessions started in 2017 at the Sunset Boulevard studio in Los Angeles, California, where magic  happens  with  other  wonderful  musicians:  Dave  Holland,  Nguyên  Lê,  Vinnie  Colaiuta and Ambrose  Akinmusire.

Dhafer  Youssef could  have  been  disoriented by  these musical  icons. Nonetheless,  you  feel quite  the  opposite when you listen to Street of Minarets. The Oud Master has been enriched by their experience  and musicality, to which he has added his musical uniqueness – a bridge between the East and West. More  accurately, the bridge between Indian, Arabic and Western classical music and jazz music.  

“The topic of the album is first and foremost about traveling…” says Dhafer. “After traveling to the four  corners of the world, in search of new sounds, here I sing differently and use vocal effects that I grew up  with. Particularly the sound effect of megaphones for the call to prayer – hence the record title Street of  Minarets.”  The  rest  of  the  guests  took  part  in  the  magical  journey  too. Rakesh  Chaurasia‘s  flute  and 

Adriano Dos Santos Tenori’s percussions were recorded in Paris. The album mixing was directed at Nguyên  Lê’s home studio in Lyon, France under the supervision of Steve Argüelles. Then the mastering was carried  out in Göteborg, Sweden.  

“This is also a journey through time” – he states. “The bridge is also between the child I was, a music lover  and admirer of the great masters (Miles, Herbie, Dave…) and the grown-up individual I have become. A  bridge between the jazz of the 50s and its rockier version of the 80s too. I wanted to show that I am a musician in perpetual motion, avoiding being labelled as kitsch or exotic.” 

The album opening is the ethereal eponymous track Street of Minarets. From that point, you get instantly  carried away. “Bal d’âme” (what a title!) creates a cinematographic transition, setting a dialogue between  Dhafer’s Oud and Herbie’s Piano. This dialogue turns into an agora with the third track “SharQ Suite 1:  SharQ Serenade”. Marcus Miller‘s bass, Vinnie Colaiuta‘s drums and Ambrose Akinmusire‘s trumpet make  their  smooth entrance and  carry  on a  conversation throughout  the entire album. Not  to mention  the  syncopation of “Funky SharQ” where Herbie’s keyboard layers remind us of The Headhunters and  the  sharped bass slapping of Marcus Miller on ‘Sudra Funk’.  

Who would have imagined that the Oud, an oriental lute with a rounded belly, could take on a funk-like  quality? Most of all, who would have imagined 40 years ago that Miles Davis would combine trumpet with  synthesizers and electronic drums, without going astray for a second? Boldness is certainly the mark of  the greats.  

Erwan Benezet