Claude Chalhoub

Credits

Teldec Classics International
Hamburg, Germany
July 2001

Produced by Michael Brook
Recorded by Jacquie Turner and Michael Brook at the Sound Factory and the Lavenderia, August 2000.
Mixed by Tchad Blake

Tracks

Red Desert 7'30

Jason Lewis: drums
Michael Brook: infinite guitar
Hector Pereira: acoustic guitar
Daryl Johnson: bass
String Octet
Mel Wesson: synths
Kuljit Bahmra: Indian tabla
Rony Barrak, darbouka
Deepak Ram: flute
Claude Chalhoub: violin, viola

Gnossienne 3'52

Claude Chalhoub: violin, piano
String Octet
Michael Brook: drum programming
Daryl Johnson: bass

Baddour 6'49

Farroukh Fateh Ali Khan: vocals
Jason Lewis: drums
String Octet
Claude Chalhoub: violin

Oriental Images 5'28

Jamil Akhatar: tabla
Wajid Ali: dola
Michael Brook: sitar guitar
String Octet
Claude Chalhoub: violin

Don't Wake Me Up 3'57

Daryl Johnson: bass
Hector Pereira: guitar
String Octet
Jamil Akhatar: tabla
Wajid Ali: dola
Brian Penzonne: piano
Claude Chalhoub: violin

Kaa 4'20

Claude Chalhoub: violin, harmonium
Michael Brook: treatments

Two Angels 7'41

String Octet
Brian Penzonne: piano
Claude Chalhoub: violin

Melancholia 10'59

Tchad Blake: hubub
Hector Pereir: acoustic guitar
Michael Brook: bass, electric guitar
Rony Barrak: djembe, rik
Kuljit Bahmra: Indian tabla
Pejman Hadadi: dombek
Claude Chalhoub: violin, bass, keyboard

Don't Wake Me Up (Spring Mix) 3'57

Daryl Johnson: bass
Hector Pereira: guitar
String Octet
Jamil Akhatar: tabla
Wajid Ali: dola
Brian Penzonne: piano
Claude Chalhoub: violin

Notes

Michael Brook's liner notes:

When I first heard Claude's demos for his album I was immediately impressed by the force and passion of his musical personality. His violin playing had that larger than life, in your face quality that great singers have and I was sold on the idea of us working together. There have been a few 'East-West' hybrid projects over the years, some good, most bad. Claude is unuusally adept and has strong claims to legitimacy in both camps. His family tradition of playing Lesbanese music combined with a first rate Western classical education allow him a fluidity and grace in this fusion of cultures.

As work progressed on the albuy a number of interesting and terrifying aspects of our situation emerged. I had totally underestimated how much time we needed to complete the album. Finding musicians and singers who had the character we wanted turned out to be difficult and time consuming.

Good luck brought Forroukh, brother of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, to Los Angeles for a concert with his son Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. One of the most memorable evenings was Claude performing with Forroukh and Rahat at a pricate party given by Giuseppe Asaro. The truly stunning musical repartee between Claude and Rahat's group gave the audience an evening to remeber, not least when Claude wobbled over the swimming pool with his Stradivarius on the tiny stage.

As time ran out we concluded that the only way to finish the album was for Claude and I to complete structures and arrangements in one room, while Tchad Blake mixed a just completed piece next door. This, accidentally, had two fortunate effects. The first was that I wasn't with Tchad as he mixed, although I had originally intended to be incolved. This, I think, allowed Tchad to maximize the interpretive, creative aspect of his mixing, which is what I love about his work. I think my presence might have diluted this process as I would have inevitably felt obliged to make suggestions and participate in the process.

The other surprise benefit was that Claude and I, in a way, didn't really finish the music before it was mixed. This gave the album a fresh, raw, energetic, slightly chaotic quality that I feel is great. It's the quality that many demos have which gets lost as music is refined and perfected to make a "professional" product. Many of us in the music industry bemoun how finished albums are often less exciting or emotional than the demo. I really feel the opposite is true for Claude's album.

Michael Brook
Los Angeles, January 2001