| The Cactus of Knowledge | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2001 | |||
| Recorded | July 22–30, 2000 | |||
| Studio | WDR Studio, Köln, Germany | |||
| Genre | Jazz, World music | |||
| Length | 66:16 | |||
| Label | Enja ENJ 9401 | |||
| Producer | Rabih Abou-Khalil, Walter Quintus | |||
| Rabih Abou-Khalil chronology | ||||
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The Cactus of Knowledge is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil which was recorded in Germany in 2000 and released on the Enja label the following year. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
The Allmusic 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". [2] In JazzTimes, 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". [3]
All compositions by Rabih Abou-Khalil
Rabih Abou-Khalil 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, Germany, during the Lebanese Civil War in 1978.
Ellery Eskelin 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, California, and became a cult figure after his death in the little-known field of "song-poem" music. Organist Bobbie Lee performed in local nightclubs in Baltimore in the early 1960s and provided Eskelin an introduction to standards from the Great American Songbook as well as inspiring an early interest in jazz music.
Gabriele Mirabassi is an Italian jazz clarinetist.
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.
Eddie Allen is an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist from Milwaukee.
Ramesh Shotham is a percussionist and drummer.
The Wound is a 1998 international co-production drama film, written, produced and directed by Yılmaz Arslan, starring Yelda Reynaud as a young Turkish emigrant who is forcibly repatriated by her own family. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on 4 February 2000, won awards at film festivals in Antalya and Istanbul, including the Golden Orange for Best Film.
Dave Ballou is an American jazz trumpeter and professor of music at Towson University, in Maryland.
Vincent Courtois is a French jazz cellist.
Blue Camel is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil. The album fuses traditional Arabic music with jazz. It was recorded in 1992 and released on the Enja label.
Al-Jadida is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil, fusing traditional Arab music with jazz, which was recorded in 1990 and released on the Enja label the following year.
Tarab is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil, fusing traditional Arab music with jazz, which was recorded in 1992 and released on the Enja label the following year.
The Sultan's Picnic is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil, fusing traditional Arab music with jazz, which was recorded in 1994 and released on the Enja label.
Arabian Waltz is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil, featuring the Balanescu Quartet, which was recorded in 1995 and released on the Enja label the following year.
Odd Times is a live album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil which was recorded in Germany in 1997 and released on the Enja label.
Morton's Foot is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil which was recorded in Germany in 2003 and released on the Enja label.
Journey to the Centre of an Egg is an album by the Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil with German pianist Joachim Kühn and percussionist Jarrod Cagwin which was recorded in Germany in 2004 and released on the Enja label the following year.
Songs for Sad Women is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil which was recorded in Germany in 2005 but not released on the Enja label until 2007.
Em Português is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil which was recorded in Germany in 2007 and released on the Enja label the following year.
Trouble in Jerusalem is an album by the Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil, conceived as a soundtrack to the 1922 German silent film Nathan the Wise, which was recorded in Germany in 2009 and released on the Enja label the following year.
