Dave Soldier plays guitar and keyboards with a collection of artists both instrumental and vocal to celebrate musical intersections of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths and cultures. Sounds of the Mediterranean, Middle East and beyond are treated with respect as well as ecunumenicism, with hand percussion, clapping and timbales along with stringed instruments like the oud, sentur and violins along with clarinet and trombone for extra dimension. Along with a rotating team of seven vocalists Soldier takes you on a tour interpreted in languages including Arabic, Hebrew, early Spanish and Farsi.
None of this would matter if the music didn’t make sense, but it works amazingly well, with Anan Nimouz singing 1000 year old lyrics on a festive rhumba with guitar and horns on “Raquib” while joining in a chorus on the exotic “Ya aiiri Fid Doha”. She dances on a table to handclaps on the sensuous Andaluasain “No Me Mordaz Habibi” and is in a throaty folk form with Lefteris Bournias’ clarinet on the Iberian folk themed “Hal dara Zabyu al-Hima”.
Medieval Hebrew interpreted by Barbara Martinez on “Eretz sfarad” mixes millenia-old lyrics lovely guitars , sitting comfortably alongside modern pop sounds by David Castellano with horns on the lilting “The Stars of Country Music Meet the Spring”. The melding of sounds is reminiscent of the wonderful onslaught of senses one gets strolling through an open market, with hints of mint, cumin, pepper, flowers and donkey carts coming at you from all directions. A musical souk worth visiting.