Diagnostic

This album is very emotional! The song 'Beirut' is very touching and intense at the end. The whole album is great, very diverse. Great to listen to when working or just chilling at home! A must have!

amazing Ibrahim. One of the best Jazz CD I have bought this year. Listen to it , you won t be able to stop. This guy is a genius.

amazing music, it is absolutely worth every penny. I listen to it in my car everyday! Buy it! buy it!

G,Day,No Comments, you just need listen and travel... Love it!!!This is definitly a good buy. Go for it!!!

Great!

Ibrahim Maalouf is fearless, and while fearlessness does not always result in success, when it works, it works brilliantly. On Diagnostic, Maalouf’s fearlessness pays off. At his core, Maalouf combines his Mediterranean and Middle Eastern heritage with modern jazz, but he rarely stops there. On Diagnostic, he combines traditions not only recklessly across the album, but within the compositions. Blues, funk, Latin, rock, sudden left turns within pieces, and all thrown together in ways that run the risk of incoherence.That is the danger. That is why it requires fearlessness. Imagine, in your mind, a composition like Beirut, which transitions at the end from a Middle Eastern/jazz hybrid into an epic 70’s rock, and then back. How? How does that work? It could make no sense. It could sound gimmicky at best, or incoherent at worst. The challenges are making it make sense, and not making it sound like a joke. To be sure, Maalouf is having fun. The piece, Never Serious, absolutely is fun, and demonstrates Maalouf’s willingness to be goofy in how he throws this stuff together. There, too, is the bravery.Maalouf’s chops as a trumpeter would allow him to play straight Miles, or find a niche as a Middle Eastern-tinged jazzman. Yet why? Why not be expansive? Have fun, throw things together? And what is even more impressive, in a way, is that Maalouf doesn’t just do this on every album. He works in concepts, so Diagnostic actually does stand apart from other albums, which have their own ideas, dedications, and purposes. The bravery of this artist cannot be overstated. Artists of this type do not always produce magic, but when the magic is there, it is there.On Diagnostic, the magic is there. It is a journey. One with sudden left turns, bouncing between styles and genres in surprising ways, but that is the magic. That is why it is magic.Further listening: Dhafer Youssef, Etienne Charles, Tigran Hamasyan, Gabor Gado, Pierre Dorge.

I was lucky enough to hear several tracks from this album just this morning on KPFK-FM's program "Global Village" with Yatrika Shah Rais. Most of them, it seems, feature an off-key trumpet, which is reminiscent of a Mexican mariachi band, which is kind of interestng, and some sound like the sound-track for a comedy-spy thriller set in Hungary or Russia, which is a real delight. Rousing and evocative of chuckles and guffaws, as I cracked eggs for my omelette. I just wish we could hear all of them on Amazon, and maybe download just the ones that "tickle our fancy."

Having bought several new albums I took a punt on Diagnostic The album arrived from France ahead of schedule. Side 3 has some background thuds for half the side but too difficult to return and as with much new vinyl would the replacement be any different? The music is interesting with a very strong Middle Eastern feel and rhythms as opposed to his newer material. His sound is unique and makes this enjoyable and worth persevering with. The gimmicks of radio extracts accounts for 2 stars being withheld but he has adapted and developed and now relies just on his massive talent. If you like straight ahead jazz then try his soundtrack to Yves Saint Laurent film which sadly is not available on vinyl.

I heard about this bloke from Lebanon with a four valve trumpet and thought 'this sounds interesting'... and it turned out to be more than interesting. His old man apparently wouldn't let him loose on the four valve version till he was pretty competent on the normal three valve item, and this reminded me of a lad I once met on camp who was fab at jazz piano. His dad was a professional jazz pianist but had refused to teach his lad how to play jazz until he had got to grade 6 classical. Anyway, enough of the personal reminisce, what you want to know is why this album is good. It's different, genuinely so... I had never encountered a similar style before... but more importantly, it was a good listen. As the first track drifted into the second, I was completely drawn in and loving every second, not least because I wasn't sure where the music was headed but somehow sensed that it would be good... and it was. Not all the tracks are equally captivating but hey, here is a fantastic musician doing things his way, and "Beirut", the so called bonus track at the end is pretty much worth the whole price of the album.

Jazz is a such a broad church that pretty much anything is welcome to come and pray. This album is simply stunning [although pricey - but then this is the first CD I've bought new in a long time] and I have found myself playing it over and over and over again.

I bought this after hearing it when I forgot to turn off my radio at night and a track from this album woke me in the early hours with its grace and beauty. I have never really been into Jazz or heard jazz quite like this before but this has become a favourite

The influences for this album are endless. There is som much beauty and fun in this album, that it seems to be new every time I listen to it.