Blue Maqams

Released for his 60th birthday, Blue Maqams offers many reasons to celebrate. It brings the Tunisian oud master together with three brilliant improvisers: the "Maqams" of the title refers to the Arabic modal music system, rendered kind of blue by the jazz players. While Brahem and Holland first collaborated 20 years ago on the very widely-acclaimed Thimar album, Brahem meets Jack DeJohnette and British pianist Django Bates for the first time here.