POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Khalife’s Work Broadens Reach of Arabic Music

Lebanese composer and oud master Marcel Khalife is on a mission. Working with centuries of musical heritage, he is attempting to reshape traditional Arabic music into an expansive, universally communicative form of expression reaching well beyond the Arab world.

Khalife’s appearance at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on Friday with his Al Mayadine ensemble--a quartet consisting of two ouds, bass guitar and riq (tambourine)--illustrated his sophisticated application of Western-styled instrumental composition techniques to music with elements deeply rooted in Arabic vocal sources.

The 80-minute program, performed before an intensely responsive audience, was devoted to “Jadal (Dialogue), a Composition for Two Ouds.” The work, a tribute to the Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran, was originally conceived for full orchestra. But Khalife’s fertile compositional imagination, which unleashed a striking array of colorful timbres and propulsive rhythms, needed no enlargement to establish its creative authenticity.

The impact of the music was further enhanced by the remarkable, interactive virtuosity of Khalife and his longtime associate, oud player Charbel Rouhana. Working with an almost symbiotic linkage, the two artists soared--individually and in tandem--through performances resembling the swirling, interlaced, endlessly fascinating richness of Arabic calligraphy.