Nigel Kennedy : East Meets East

Full title is: East Meets East

The All Music Guide rating for this album on a 1-9 scale (9=best) is: 7

This is the All Music Guide suggested introduction to this artist's work.

The All Music Guide rating for this album among this artist's works on a 1-9 scale (9=best) is: 7

  Aboud Abdul Aal - Violin
  Jerzy Bawol - Accordion, Vocals
  Krakow Philharmonic - Strings
  Miles Bould - Percussion
  Mo Foster - Bass (Electric)
  Natacha Atlas - Vocals
  Nigel Kennedy - Violin, Violin (Electric)
  Tomasz Kukurba - Flute, Percussion, Viola, Vocals
  Tomasz Lato - Double Bass

As a classical violinist, Nigel Kennedy has always cultivated a very careful reputation as a rebel (scruffy beard, spiky hair, no bow tie) while making a comfortable living playing a generally pretty safe repertoire; audiences who wouldn't cross the street to hear genuinely difficult music by Elliott Carter or Michael Tippett could go listen to the T-shirted Kennedy play The Four Seasons and feel like they were on the cutting edge. Outside the classical arena, his projects have been a bit more interesting, and none has been more affecting than this eerily lovely collection of new compositions and folk tunes drawing on Polish and other Eastern European traditions. Teamed up with the Krakow band Kroke (violist and flutist Tomasz Kukurba , accordionist Jerzy Bawol , and string bassist Tomasz Lato ), Kennedy delivers a set of tunes that are, by turns, dramatic, soothing, emotionally tormented, and romantically yearning. Lullaby for Kamila and One Voice are not only two of the loveliest performances of Kennedy 's recorded career, they are also two of the most gently affecting compositions committed to tape in any genre in recent memory. Ajde Jano features a beautiful cameo appearance by the brilliant (and recently ubiquitous) singer Natacha Atlas , and Kukush showcases Kennedy 's electric violin in a very sonically interesting setting. (As does T 4.2 , though the latter is much less musically interesting than Kukush .) Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide