10. Anouar BrahemLe Pas du Chat Noir
Anouar Brahem made a lot of records, but this one is more of a childhood memory. My father bought it maybe 12, 13, 14 years ago, or longer, probably 20 years ago. It’s a very long record that just sets you on this journey. The pianist just did certain things that certainly I learned a lot from.
They lay it out in such a way that they stretch the possibilities of these three acoustic instruments [oud, piano and accordion] to create new sounds and new combinations, over and over. This is something people can only do when they get to a certain point, a certain age, develop a certain hearing – you can make the possibilities endless. I play that record to a lot of people, a lot of young people, even my aunt, who’s 75, and they all respond in the same way. It’s really something.
I probably wouldn’t have found it, or a lot of ECM stuff, without my father. He did a lot of the photographs for a lot of the covers, so he always got the stuff and it was always an inspiring pool of music. No record ever sounded like the other.
