Joseph Tawadros - Truth Seekers, Lovers and Warriors (2015)

Triple-ARIA-winning Oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros releases his hotly anticipated new album on ABC Music: Truth Seekers, Lovers and Warriors.

Continuing his characteristic style of creating new and unusual musical soundworlds with the Oud, this album features superlative guest musicians from across the musical spectrum: James Crabb on accordion, James Greening on trombone, Matt McMahon on piano, and Joseph’s long-standing collaborator and brother James Tawadros on the req and bendir.

The title of the album is taken from the American novelist Hunter S. Thompson: “Walk tall, kick ass, learn to speak Arabic, love music and never forget that you come from a long line of Truth Seekers, Lovers and Warriors”. All 20 tracks are composed by Joseph Tawadros but each one draws on the imagination of the instrumentalists involved. As Tawadros himself puts it: “Music should be composed as a platform to excel, shine and enjoy the experience of music making, albeit with some twists and turns.”

“Expectations were realised far beyond what I had first envisaged (although on paper it is hard to imagine any coherency with an instrumental combination like Oud, Trombone, Accordion, Piano and Req in one room) but I believe it really does work, and work well. But it’s not about the instruments themselves. It’s about the players who bring these objects to life and the dedication that shines through their sound. It’s also about how a group of musicians from different backgrounds can work well together, listening carefully to one another, sensitive to the moment and reacting to what’s happening on the fly. It’s courageous decision-making. It’s the skill of being on the same page and the joy of sharing. That’s where the strength of the music lies.”

The Truth Seeker Suite in A stands at the heart of the disc, a dazzling display of texture, colour and impulsive rhythm that interweaves these apparently disparate instruments into a fresh new soundworld. Other highlights of the album include the interplay between the Tawadros brothers and James Crabb (accordion) in Shadow Dance, and the elegiac Three Sketches of Gallipoli.