Beautiful World
Beautiful Worldfinds Jordanian pianist Zade eschewing the overriding Western New Age influence of his past two efforts. Favoring his native Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies as well as solid musicianship, this sweeping effort falls more in the global-pop vein than fans might expect, with production that is richly textured and active. When he does step away from pop, Zade shows his musicianship on a sparkling set of solo piano performances. "Your Beauty... My Madness" has flamenco music's sense drama, while "Comes To An End"'s equally strong piano work is complimented by a nice turn from guest singer Jana. In fact, "Musician Of The Night" is really the only song here that would really qualify as down tempo or ambient, and that's a stretch. While many will be quick to categorizeBeautiful Worldas new age background music, this young musician has stepped up to provide a provocative set of songs that are far from limpid. --Tad Hendrickson