YOUSSEF, DHAFER - Diwan Of Beauty And Odd (Sealed) (2LP)

180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL INCLUDING INSERT GATEFOLD SLEEVE Diwan Of Beauty & Odd is the latest album by Tunisian singer and oud-player Dhafer Youssef. He once said quite spontaneously "There is no prototype for beauty". This delightful statement is in fact adequate to sum up the motivation and sound of his new album Diwan Of Beauty & Odd. Dhafer Youssef is a composer, singer and oud player from Tunisia. The oud is an Arabic lute, a pear-shaped string instrument that can achieve a beautiful sound from those who know how to master it. Youssef developed an interest for jazz music at an early age and started singing when he was still five years old. Today he is considered to be the most inventive oud player and a leader of the movement referred to as contemporary music, which fuses Eastern and Western music. "His voice is incredibly instrumental and hits you right in the heart, with its spellbinding Eastern melodies mingled with the finest Jazz." Christian Grimauld, Couleurs Jazz. The new album truly is a unique combination of Arabic and Western culture, it is for the first time he has recorded with an all-American band in All star formation.