''The Cactus of Knowledge'' is an album by the Lebanese

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

player and composer

Rabih Abou-Khalil Rabih Abou-Khalil ( ar, ربيع أبو خليل, born August 17, 1957) is an oud player and composer born in Lebanon, who combines elements of Arabic music with jazz, classical music, and other styles. He grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Ge ...

which was recorded in Germany in 2000 and released on the

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...

label the following year.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by David R. Adler stated "Rabih Abou-Khalil's ninth Enja release features one of his most expansive lineups to date -- 12 pieces in all, including oud, brass, woodwinds, cello, and percussion. It's quite a departure from 1999's austere ''Yara''. Here the tempos are bright, the unison lines darting and difficult, the improv heated, the tonal combinations ever-changing. Heavy-hitting jazzers dominate the band roster". In

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

, Josef Woodard wrote "The masterful Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou-Kahlil-now living in Germany, where he is best known-has made it his business to combine elements of his native musical language with jazz, while weaving in rock and other ideas from American musical soil. His ongoing refinement process, not merely a continuation of past ideas, is amply evident on his ambitious new album, ''The Cactus of Knowledge''".Woodard, J
JazzTimes Review
accessed June 20, 2018

Track listing

All compositions by Rabih Abou-Khalil # "The Lewinsky March" – 5:25 # "Business as Usual" – 6:23 # "Fraises et Creme Fraiche" – 9:53 # "Got to Go Home" – 8:51 # "Oum Saïd" – 10:36 # "Maltese Chicken Farm" – 9:36 # "Ma Muse M'amuse" – 9:37 # "Pont Neuf" – 5:41

Personnel

– oud, bass oud *

Dave Ballou Dave Ballou is an American jazz trumpeter and associate professor at Towson University, in Maryland. Early life and education Ballou was born in Peace Dale, Rhode Island. He started playing the trumpet at age 11. Ballou received his bachelor's ...

– trumpet * Eddie Allen – trumpet *

Tom Varner Tom Varner (born June 17, 1957 in Morristown, New Jersey, United States) is an American jazz horn (French horn) player and composer. Varner grew up in Millburn, New Jersey, and studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson of Summit, Ne ...

– French horn *

Dave Bargeron David W. Bargeron (born September 6, 1942) is an American trombonist and tuba player who was a member of the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat & Tears. Career Bargeron was lead trombonist with Clark Terry's Big Band and played bass trombone and tub ...

– euphonium *

Michel Godard Michel Godard is a French avant-garde jazz and classical musician. He plays tuba and the predecessor of the tuba, a brass instrument known as the serpent. Career At 18, Godard was a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio-France. He has ...

– tuba *

Gabriele Mirabassi Gabriele Mirabassi is an Italian jazz clarinetist. Career He was born in Perugia and is a graduate of the Morlacchi Conservatory. His teacher told him avoid playing jazz because it would damage his technique, so at home he learned jazz on the ...

– clarinet *

Antonio Hart Antonio Hart (born September 30, 1968) is a jazz alto saxophonist. He attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, studied with Andy McGhee at Berklee College of Music, and has a master's degree from Queens College, City University of New York. H ...

– alto saxophone *

Ellery Eskelin Ellery Eskelin (born August 16, 1959) is an American tenor saxophonist raised in Baltimore, Maryland and residing in New York City. His parents, Rodd Keith and Bobbie Lee, were both professional musicians. Rodd Keith died in 1974 in Los Angeles, ...

– tenor saxophone *

Vincent Courtois Vincent Courtois (born 21 March 1968) is a French jazz cellist. Biography Courtois studied classical cello at the Conservatory of Aubervilliers, first with Erwan Fauré, and then with Roland Pidoux and Frédéric Lodéon. He also played Didier ...

– cello *Nabil Khaiat – frame drums *Jarrod Cagwin – drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cactus of Knowledge, The Rabih Abou-Khalil albums 2001 albums Enja Records albums