Tarek Yamani Trio

CD Club, 3 July 2014

Taking place at the CD Club, the evening’s last concert featured another piano trio that, similarly to the Chalaba trio, finds inspiration in Arabic music. This influence is far from surprising as the bandleader, Tarek Yamani, is a Lebanese pianist who developed an idiosyncratic blend of jazz and Arabic sound. His trio also includes two wholly committed Slovenian musicians, Goran Krmac on tuba and Kristijan Krajnčan on drums.

While the tuba (as a replacement for the upright bass) mostly served to supply the rhythm accompaniment (as well as carrying the melody), Krajnčan provided a colourful array of rhythmic patterns and flights of fancy that perfectly complemented Yamani’s scintillating piano-playing. The pianist’s repertoire included several old Arabic compositions (among others the well-known and repeatedly adapted Lamma bada yatathanna). Having introduced the overarching theme, the trio dexterously steered the odd rhythms into jazz, where the theme progressed towards lively post-bop patterns or polyrhythmic pulsations verging on ecstasy.

Mario Batelić

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Photo Nada Žgank