Barry Cleveland

 

On his eighth release, the Pakistani-American jazz composer and guitarist further consolidates his cross-continental amalgam of musical styles, this time more fully assimilating the Sufi devotional music known as qawwali—though as always, the references are more covert than overt. Backed by an ensemble as polycultural as the compositions—including alto saxophone innovator Rudresh Mahanthappa—Abbasi navigates these intriguing tunes with uncommon grace and technical fluidity, while eliciting gorgeous tones from his D’Angelico New Yorker. Enja.