RAHMANN: Rahmann

Released : 1998

Label : Musea

Catalogue number : FGBG 4261.AR

Total playing time : 68’23"

Tracklist:

Atlanta (5’26") / Nadiamina (6’23") / Ab (8’) / Danse sacrée (6’35") / Leila (9’38") / Marche funèbre (5’) Bonustracks : Marche funèbre (5’04") / Danse sacrée (10’13") / Nadiamina (7’08") / Atlanta (4’51")

Musicians:
Mahamad Hadi - guitars, oud, bouzouki, snitra
Amar Mecharaf - drums, percussion
Michel Rutigliano - keyboards
Gérard Provost - bass
Louis-César Ewande - percussion

For those of you who want to make a trip around the world by means of music, why not pay a visit to Rahmann? On their self-titled debut, the band mixes throughout their own Mahavishnu jazz-rock a lot of Arabian influences by means of instruments like sitar, bouzouki, tabla, darbouka and oud. A song like "Nadiamina" I can best compare with Al Di Meola's "Race With Devil On Spanish Highway" because there one can also find some Moorish elements. The superb drum technique by Amar Mecharaf links up with the fretless bass of Gérard Provost perfectly. Unique also is the use of fretless guitar by the "brain" of the band Mahamad Hadi.

This CD transfer includes all of the material from the band's 1977 album supplemented with four bonus tracks that were recorded in a slightly trimmed formula. Because of guest collaborations from people like Didier Lockwood and Liza Deluxe this album is not an album you can leave behind in a hurry!

Reviewed by: John 'Bobo' Bollenberg