Claude Chalhoub
Produced by, and featuring some performances from, experimental  guitaristMichael Brook,  Claude Chalhoub's self-titled album charts exotic musical territory by meshing  Western and Indian classical and Arabic music, occasionally peppering the mix  with modern influences such as rock and ambient. Lebanese composer/violinist  Chalhoub also plays other instruments (piano, harmonium, and viola), and his  approach here is to find parallel elements in the diverse styles he embraces.   He is unafraid to unite Western strings and Eastern percussion, or electric  instruments with organic ones. Throughout the album, genre lines become blurry.   The sweeping Arabic strings of "Red Desert" are accompanied rhythmically by  Indian tabla and propulsive rock drumming; flute, guitars, bass, and keyboards  also figure into the composition. "Don't Wake Me Up" effortlessly traverses  Arabic and classical string orchestrations, and it integrates Spanish guitar and  lively tabla playing in the right spots. "Two Angels" highlights the album's  omnipresent string octet by exploring an Eastern mode while the piano  accompaniment delves into a Western one. Then "Kaa" and the epic "Melancholia"  find Chalhoub and Brook in a mesmerizing ambient mood. (Incidentally, "Baddour"  features guest Pakistani singer Farroukh Fateh Ali Khan, brother of the lateNusrat.) Chalhoub's  sensual synthesis of styles is truly enchanting.--Bryan Reesman