Israeli musician Dudu Tassa and Jonny Greenwood (
Radiohead,
The Smile) got to know each other in 2017, when Tassa and his group performed as a support act for Radiohead. Tassa belongs to the so-called Mizrachi Jews: Jews who have lived in North Africa and the Middle East over the centuries, many of whom moved to that country after Israel was founded in 1948. His roots are in Kuwait and Iraq and it
… is also because of this that he sings mainly in Arabic. Jarak Qaribak is the two's first joint album. The title means "your neighbor is your friend"; although this is sadly an almost controversial assertion in the explosive Middle East, the duo, with guest artists from Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco, shows that the cultures do go together. Tassa and Greenwood seem to be on the same wavelength in terms of arrangements. Heavy rock and psychedelic sounds are nicely dosed and dynamically underline the rather traditional material. (JV)more
