Replacing
Rafa el Tachuela with guitarist
José Luis Montón,
Hossam Ramzy is back for another round of fusion between Middle Eastern sounds and flamenco.
Montón has some very nice runs on the guitar, but the Spanish influence here is more in the style of the arrangements than in flamenco guitar. Qanun, oud, and nay feature prominently, with the guitar abruptly entering from time to time for a solo. Where in the first
Flamenco Arabe there was an exploration of the fusion of styles coming from two more or less independent aesthetics clashing together into one somewhere around Andalusia, here the aesthetic is more of a Middle Eastern one with a bit of a Spanish beat. The performers are all fine, but the mix isn't careful enough to produce the interesting features that one might hope for. This fusion concept is on fertile ground, but the execution has to be just right to make it work. ~ Adam Greenberg