This sophomore set from
Shahin & Sepehr is an absolute delight to listen to, a mixture of deep keyboard textures and beautifully played guitar (mostly acoustic, played Spanish style) layered over pleasantly pulsing rhythms that are now starting to feature more and more Middle Eastern instruments and ideas. There's some lovely light jazz playing throughout this record, but it never sinks to being the sort of twee cocktail-lounge instrumental frippery that seems to have followed in the wake of the
Kenny G and
Dave Koz types.
e isn't meant to make music history, but it does provide a relaxing, listenable ambience that doesn't demand to be ignored while it's playing -- indeed, you can quite happily pay attention to this album and it will reward you for doing so, more than living up to the promise of the duo's debut, One Thousand and One Nights. ~ Steven McDonald