Ahmed Abdul-Malik

Limited Clear Vinyl edition, 500 copies! Besides playing with the likes of T. Monk, J.Coltrane, A. Blakey and R. Weston,  bassist and oud player Abdul Malik is mostly remembered as one of the first to explore how elements of Middle Eastern and North African music can integrate with Jazz idioms. Originally released in 1962 on Prestige Records, this is his fifth studio effort featuring  - Ahmed on bass and oud, Bilal Abdurrahman on alto, Korean reed flute, and percussion, and William Henry Allen on bass and percussion. With that kind of lineup, you can imagine the feel - lots of spare rhythms, with snaking reed work over the top, done in a very evocative way - and although there's less jazz than usual, the alto sax solos still give the record enough of a jazz component to set it apart from straight world music.

One of the most compelling albums ever recorded by Ahmed Abdul-Malik, the set's got a style that's very strongly in keeping with the "eastern moods" of the title - with less of a jazz sound than some of Abdul Malik's other work, and more spare, exotic instrumentation overall.