Rev-Ola 
John Berberian and the Rock East Ensemble :
Middle Eastern Rock (ARM/US,1969re.2008)****°
One of the ‘classic’ albums that bridge classical Arab lute playing with rock music, and beyond, is this one, partly because of the involvement of Joe Beck and his fuzz guitar. He did the same for flamenco with Sabicas around 1966, adding electric guitar skills, grounded in blues and R&B, trying to open up one world and bridging with the other. Other members were Bill LaVorgna on drums and Peter Spargo and Harvey Cowen, not really knowing who was responsible for the groovy sax and mix of Arab/Middle eastern and rather jazz drumming. Armenian born John Berberian is a masterly oud player, something which also his other more traditional albums prove, while this album might still be his most rewarding performance (although I must mention some excellent spoken word tracks based upon the writings of Khalil Gibran on Rosko's "Music and Gibran A contemporary interpretation", one of the lesser known recordings of his). But besides the excellent oud/fuzz opener, most tracks, with some more peaceful calmed down moments, quickly build up it’s groove through rhythmical drives (from 4/4 to 6/8 on the first few tracks). (Strangely enough the original rhythmical modes mentioned on the original LP from the first 5 tracks are not mentioned on this reissue (4/4, 6/8, 6/8, 2/4, 9/8). They build up brilliantly like complex jazz rock, even when they are in fact based upon traditional Middle Eastern folk, with fusing sax and guitar and a rock energy. The Middle Eastern melodies span from Armenia over Turkey, the Arab nations and Greece, but are mostly from Armenian origin.
From the original liner notes (also not included) I still have the following essential information :
“The Oud and the fuzz” is an original sound that derived from the Druze tribe of Northern Africa. “Chem-O-Chem” is a popular Armenian song. 6/8 is the traditional rhythm for Armenian dances. This features lead vocalist Bob Tashjian. “Flying Hye” (with ‘hye’ referring to “(flying) Armenian”) starts in 9/8 which changes to 6/8, and has a melody taken from the Greek dance form of Tsamiko. Also “3/8 + 5/8= 8/8” refers to how complex Middle Eastern melodies can build up, based upon Turkish classical music. Because here, the 8/8 is broken up it gives the piece a special and also typical Turkish drive. “The magic ground” is a based upon A minor (or Kurdi for Arab music), which takes off in 2/4, then breaks into a swing.
From the same liner notes I also learnt that John Berberian has also played violin before with a number of symphony orchestras, and has also appeared on Miss Kazan’s “Nature Boy” (MGM).
I really have never heard oud playing so convincing but it is also the more often perfect arrangements with fusing swing that were hardly ever repeated elsewhere. Only on most of the last tracks, with the most complex rhythms, the sax and guitar keep more close eye on its form and don’t play as much with it’s perfect collision of energies as before. The variety of bursting cooperative energies, calmer and just a few smooth moments makes this album also a perfect listen. A must-have. The only disappointing element is the left out information from it’s original LP, which with this review, I’m happy to compensate for that.
PS. The album was reissued a few times before (not always officially) on LP and CD.
