Roy's Favorite Music
maintained by Roy Jones, music@hennapage.com

"Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.
Don't open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument."

Jalal al-Din Rumi

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	Rabih Abou-Khalil "The Sultan's Picnic" If jazz had developed in the streets of Beirut instead of New Orleans, it probably would have sounded like this. Rabih Abou-Khalil, a virtuoso player of the "oud," the Midddle Eastern lute, mixes his finely honed classical skills with a group of Western jazz musicians to play a set of his own compositions, full of catchy melodies and subtle rhythms.
	Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan "Night Song" Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan became well known in the West when his singing was used in the soundtrack of the film "Dead Man Walking." He worked with producer and performer Michael Brook to bring out two albums; one, a collection of songs in the style of the traditional Qawali, of which he was an acknowledged master, and this one, a solo performance of original songs of deep sentiment, love and devotion.
	Tabla Beat Science "Tala Matrix" This CD is subtitled "Adventures in Electro-Acoustic Hyperpercussion" and combines the composing and performing talents of Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan, Talvin Singh, Trilok Gurtu, and Karsh Kale, with the whole thing stitched together by producer/bassist Bill Lasswell. Track 5, "Palmistry" is reason enough to buy this one.
	AfroCelt Sound System "Volume 1: Sound Magic" The AfroCelts are a mix of British Isles and West African musicians with an ever-changing array of guest artists whose music is at once strangely familiar and like nothing anyone has ever heard before. The CD features ethnic fusion and original tunes, some fine piping by Davey Spillane, the haunting voice of Iarla O'Lionnard, and Senegalese kora master Kauwding Cissokho.
	Ofra Haza "Fifty Gates of Wisdom" The late Ofra Haza was a fine singer of both traditional Yemeni and contemporary songs. "Fifty Gates of Wisdom" is a set of modern arrangements of "diwan" traditional Jewish devotional poetry that is meant to be sung. The title comes from a line in one of the songs on the CD: "Although foreboding clouds may line the sky, my love will fill my desire, when passing through the fifty fixed gates of wisdom."

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