REVIVAL

Iraq is hardly the bastion of progressive rock or other experimental forms of music but then again, these days it's hardly the bastion of anything ever since a small group of psychopaths we call the government (you pick the country and it's true) decided to bomb the crap out of the nation and kill untold scores of innocent people and in the process destroyed one of the most ancient cradles of civilization and all for what? But i digress before i even begin. Let me start over. Iraq is hardly the bastion of progressive rock or other experimental forms of music and actually never has been so as it has always existed in a rather isolated section of the world steeped in ancient traditions while adhering to strict religious principles. Exotic experimental weirdness just never fit in but that doesn't mean there haven't been some freaks who were born within its borders and just wanted to adventure further.

AL BASIM was born and raised in Baghdad and in 1970 organized a teenage folk ensemble and learned how to play guitar in the style of his idol Ilham al-Madfi, one of Iraq's most successful pop rock musicians who even made a collaboration with Paul McCartney. While studying pedagogy, BASIM caught the bug to create music and left behind his career plans as well as his residency in his home country where there was no chance of nurturing his wildest musical ambitions. After immigrating to the US and ending up in Denver, Colorado, BASIM wasted no time and hooked up with the session musicians David Reskin (flute), John Starrett (bass), Phil Carter (drums) and George Keith (sax) and got busy recording this one and only album REVIVAL which was released in 1979 and has been a rare collectors item ever since but has found some new life in a few reissues.

REVIVAL is a unique sounding and all instrumental album that is primary based on progressive rock but includes a lot of BASIM's native Arabic sounds along with jazz-fusion and trippy even Krautish psychedelia. While many Western artists ranging from Agitation Free to Rahmann have tackled the Middle Eastern and progressive rock fusion from the European perspective, i can't think of one other example outside of AL BASIM who has delivered this equation from the opposite side of the coin. Despite the exotic nature of an Iraqi creating a fusion album, the lion's share of the sounds presented are dominated by Eurocentric perspectives but the Middle Eastern attributes do find their way into the Euro-jazz, rock frenzy and Krautrock psychedelia which makes a rather unprecedented series of instrumental workouts at least in my experience.

'History of the World' begins with a series of la-la-la's before the exotic sounds of Baghdad shine through with Middle Eastern scales adapted to the guitar. Clocking at over 12 minutes it is also the longest track and carefully ratchets up into a veritable East meets West fusion jam that is characterized by solid jazz drumming styles, tinny guitar licks and the most prevalent sound on this album, the hyper omnipresent fluttering of the flute which finds a way to weave its magic into all the five tracks despite how different they are from one another. The following 'Poitiers' stands in stark contrast to the percussion dominated intro track and focuses more on complex orchestral harmonies and counterpoints with minimal percussion and more esoteric flute runs, relaxed jazzy guitar (think Pat Metheny) and very little traces of rock at the beginning but finds the bass rebelling and creating a faster tempo thus dragging the rest of the band into fully fueled rock action.

'Souvenir' on the other hand focuses on BASIM's compositional skills and demonstrates his talent in classical chamber music, features absolutely no percussion and at this point sounds like a completely different album from the opener. Once again the flute is the dominant instrument as everything drifts along in dream mode. 'One Camel In Alaska' brings back the Middle Eastern sounds and although no Central Asian instruments are given credit i do believe there is a bouzouki in the mix however with this exotic Silk Road presence, the band is one fire with the heaviest rock sounds that the album has to offer with proggy guitar, bass and drum workouts that are in perfect prog harmony but once again the flute and its high pitched timbres pierce through the din and steal the show once again!

The final 'Open Space' shifts gears once again and tackles the unlikely marriage of Arab folklore and avant-garde free jazz-fusion and succeeds in being my favorite track on the album with its brash bass bop bravado, angular guitar chords and freeform percussive workouts. While a flute may sound out of place in a sizzling jazz marathon, somehow David Reskin's antsy flutterings find a place as he knows how to find the perfect counterpoints in between the cracks of the cacophonous roar. This is the only track that really emphasizes the use of the squawky sax talents of George Keith. Despite the free for all jazzy thing going on, the frenzy is punctuated by serene melodies that sort of develop and then drift into chaos and then form new ones. It comes across as a medley of ideas rather than a cohesive flow of sounds but then again so does the entire album! It all ends with the same la-la-la's which began the whole thing.

While no one could ever accuse AL BASIM of being focused as this album runs more courses in its short playing time than a golf tournament, i can't say that for once i'm bored and on the contrary impressed by the stealthy instrumental interplay that all the band members bring to the table. It's almost as if BASIM knew that this album would be his only chance and wanted to stuff in as many ideas as possible since the progressive world of rock and jazz-fusion's heyday had already passed by several years. This is definitely not an album that likes to repeat itself and the tracks seem quite random in fact but the real deal is that every one of them is quite exemplary in the performances at hand. Personally i would've have loved to see this lineup crank out a couple more albums but the overall sound is much more like albums from 1973-74 as it carried a strong connection to the 60s psychedelic scene while cranking out tight technical displays of jazz and prog. Perhaps a tad achronistic but given that these sonic jewels were likely residing in BASIM's noggin' for several years, they probably emerged in some nascent form during the aforementioned timeline. Whatever the case, this is some bitchin' cool stuff!

3.5 stars. While I'm not "all in" on the music presented here, Al Basim's life is a pretty cool story. Immigrating to the USA in 1978 from Iraq, Al who was a guitar player, managed to hook up with some local session players in Denver and create and release "Revival". He would end up moving to France in the 90's, and he would return to his musical roots with "Songs From Iraq" released around 2006 or so. That one is much more acoustic and arabic sounding than this his debut from 30 years earlier.

So we get a five piece here, although the sax player is only on the closer. There are no keyboards here as this is mostly a flute and guitar led album along with drums and bass filling out the sound. No vocals save for some wordless melodies to open and close this album. The music is mostly jazz, psychedelic and arabic in nature. I'm not sure if the title "Revival" is meant for his home country of Iraq, as we get a picture in the liner notes of a mosque I think, from his homeland.

The opener "History Of The World" is head and shoulders above the other four tracks in my opinion. The next two songs "Poitiers" and "Souvenir" are fairly lightweight with little in the way of percussion, in fact none on "Souvenir". "One Camel In Alaska" is a funny title and a return to the arabic sounds. A pretty good song but the flute does get annoying by this point on the album with that high pitched fluttering. And speaking of annoying, the closer "Open Space" is pretty much a free jazz improv. And while I'm not big on free jazz, this one is actually a nice change of pace.

I was expecting more I must admit. The album cover with Al's picture and the word "Revival" seems iconic, but I don't feel like the music could be described that way at all.

"Revival" is the debut full-length studio album by Iraqi music artist/guitarist Al Basim (real name: Basim Al-Hashimi). The album was originally released in 1979 and it was a self-released vinyl, which Basim paid for himself. Basim re-issued "Revival" on CD in 1989 (another independent release). Basim was born Baghdad in 1970 and performed with various groups until he left in 1978 to settle in the USA. He soon found American musicians to record bass, drums, saxophone, and flute, in addition to him performing the guitars. "Revival" was his sole release for many years, but after relocating to France in the 1990s, he recorded and released the sophomore full-length studio album "Songs From Iraq" (released in 2007).

"Revival" is a fully instrumental release, featuring 5 tracks and a total playing time of 37:40 minutes. Stylistically it´s an eclectic release featuring elements from jazz-rock/fusion, progressive rock, classical music, folk/ethnic folk, and psychedelic rock...even visiting avant-garde rock territories once or twice (strangely enough there´s not much here to reveal that Al Basim is a middle eastern artist). Artists like Santana and Mahavishnu Orchestra aren´t the worst references. While the dark and brooding cover artwork may suggest otherwise, "Revival" is for the most part a relatively light and uplifting listening experience, dominated by the talented guitar playing by Basim. The flute has a pretty dominant role in the soundscape too though, and there´s generally nothing wrong with the level of musicianship found on this release.

"Revival" is a relatively unpolished and at times a bit lo-fi sounding release. It has a demo sound quality to it, but the sound production only further enhances the authenticity and mystique surrounding this obscure release. Upon conclusion "Revival" is overall a good quality progressive rock release and it´s obvious that Al Basim is a both talented guitarist, but also a clever and skilled composer. The many classical music influences heard throughout the album aren´t composed by someone who isn´t trained in classical music composition (take a listen to "Souvenir" for proof of that). A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.