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This is not fado

CD Review: Em Português by Rabih Abou-Khalil.

Rabih Abou-Khalil, Em Portugues

Photo: Ton Maas

You don’t like fado? No sweat. Despite the fact that genuine Portuguese poetry is sung herein by a certified fadisto, the music bears no relation to that folk genre of Portugal, which typically drips with sentimentality. Instead, we hear songs by Rabih Abou-Khalil, a Lebanese composer living in Europe who has been active around the interface between classical Arabic music and jazz for years. Together with Anouar Brahem of Tunisia, Abou-Khalil belongs in the ranks of the most influential contemporary composers and oud players in the Arabic world. Although the use of the human voice isn’t new to him—on a recent album, deep wordless growling by Sardinian voice artist Gavino Murgia could be heard—Abou-Khalil for the first time treads the ground of sung poetry.

The young Portuguese fadisto Ricardo Ribeiro turns out to be nothing less than sensational. Although inexperienced in Arabic music, he delivers the microtonal melodic ornamentations typical of Abou-Khalil’s style with so much ease, one would think they were made for him. His deeply resonating baritone creates a darker mood than the current fado standard, set by the new wave of fadistas like Mariza, Ana Moura and Cristina Branco.

Accompanied by Abou-Khalil’s flamboyant oud, Luciano Biondini’s lyrical accordion, the often-subdued-but-sometimes-exuberant pounding of Jarrod Cagwin’s drums and the rattling sound of Michel Godard’s tuba, Ribeiro makes all those other fado stars shine less brightly and even dwindle. “Adolescencia perdida” (“lost youth”), the sweltering duet with which the recording closes, isn’t only the crowning piece of a most successful experiment, but goes a long way toward proving that saudade (a Portuguese term best translated as “homesickness”) is possible even without a single note of fado.