Ahoar, Between Rivers

Some world-music fusions have a touch of Frankenstein's monster about them - the bolts are visible. The best collaborations emerge from chance encounters and friendships. Ahoar are a quartet with two exiled Iraqi musicians, Saad Thamir and Bassem Hawar, Belgian pianist Free Desmyter, who first played together at a family gathering, and Belgian bassist Dietmar Fuhr, who met Thamir through a random act of kindness. It could be tagged "maqam-jazz", after the Iraqi vocal tradition they draw on, but that doesn't do justice to the thrilling, sombre atmosphere they conjure on songs such as Ouidad, Karawane and Nadam (Remorse), which in mood reminds me of Fairport Convention's Liege and Lief. Thamir typically sets up compelling rhythms on tabla or daf while Hawar plays djoze, the keening Iraqi "knee fiddle". The Western instruments contribute a sensitive and multi-textured complement to the traditional sounds, resulting in music that is muted, moving, hypnotic and uplifting by turn.