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  Mahmoud Fadl
The Drummers of the Nile in Town (Piranha
Musik CD PIR 1791, 2003)
For his latest Drummers of the Nile outing (there's been two previous ones for
the Piranha label), master percussionist Mahmoud Fadl not only utilized a
characteristic lineup of Arabic drums, accordion and the like, but also sought
the assistance of some guys he thought he'd never find. It seems there's a
perennial musician's hangout called Mohamed 'Ali Street in Cairo where Fadl was
once entranced by a particular nameless brass band and never forgot how right on
they sounded. Years later, just when he'd abandoned hope of ever enlisting their
expertise, into the studio they walked. Turns out these were no ordinary
musicians- they were the remnants of the famed Hasaballah Brass Band who'd once
played in the court of King Faruk in addition to gracing such projects as Frank
London's Brotherhood of Brass album from a couple of years ago.
Hasaballah's presence gives some of the tracks an added tartness that
splendidly compliments the sharp complexities of rhythms played on darbuka,
duhula, duff and riq drums. There are short solo pieces here with the feel of
improvised jams as well as fuller excursions with and without horn
accompaniment. The percussionists are in top form, easily going from military
precision to freewheeling abandon. A remix of an earlier Fadl track, "Bellah
Aament," closes things out on a note that comes across weakly in comparison to
what preceded it, but the blistering drumming and inspired contributions of that
not-quite-lost brass band give the album more than enough kick .
Buy The Drummers of the Nile in Town.
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