Anouar Brahem After the Last Sky 2025 - ECM Records: ECM 2838 / 753 4287 (CD) / 753 4425 (2 LPs) https://www.ecmrecords.com/product/after-the-last-sky-anouar-brahem-anja-lechner-django-bates-dave-holland/ https://www.anouarbrahem.com/fr/discographie/after-last-sky https://www.anouarbrahem.com/en/booklet-after-last-sky-en https://www.dlmediamusic.com/artists/anouar-brahem-after-the-last-sky/ * Anouar Brahem: oud * Anja Lechner : violoncello (1-3, 5-11) * Django Bates : piano (1-3, 5, 7-11) * Dave Holland : double bass (2-5, 7-9, 11) https://www.anouarbrahem.com/ https://www.anjalechner.com/ https://www.djangobates.co.uk/ https://www.daveholland.com/ Recorded by Stefano Amerio at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland, on May 2024. Reviews ~~~~~~~ By Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/after-the-last-sky-mw0004460659 Oudist and composer Anouar Brahem has kept a low profile since 2017's Blue Maqams. He appeared with Anja Lechner and Francois Couturier on Lontano, but has otherwise been absent. Brahem enlists longtime collaborator/bassist Dave Holland and pianist Django Bates -- both appeared on Blue Maqams. Lechner appears in place of the last album's drummer, Jack DeJohnette, and is the first cellist to appear on one of Brahem's LPs. Recorded in Switzerland, it was produced by Manfred Eicher. The album's name echoes the title of a 1986 book by cultural critic, activist, and author Edward Said, and was derived from a line by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: "Where should the birds fly, after the last sky?" Begun before October 6, 2023, it is nonetheless deeply inspired by the horror and suffering experienced by Palestinians in Gaza. Brahem wrote new compositions and reworked some of the earlier ones to communicate and evoke raw emotion about this situation. Lechner's poignant cello is primary, up front. She and Brahem move through Eastern modes and motifs, blurring the lines between folk, classical, and jazz. [...] -- By Filipe Freitas https://jazztrail.net/blog/anouar-brahem-after-the-last-sky-album-review By Nick Lea https://jazzviews.net/anouar-brahem-after-the-last-sky/ By Gary Whitehouse https://agreenmanreview.com/music-2/anouar-brahems-after-the-last-sky/ By Maddy Allison https://www.prestomusic.com/jazz/articles/6453--recording-of-the-week-anouar-brahem-after-the-last-sky By Stephen Graham https://marlbank.net/2025/03/20/anouar-brahem-after-the-last-sky-ecm/ By Mike Gates https://ukvibe.org/album_reviews/anouar-brahem-2/ Hegedüs Zsuzsanna (hu) https://www.jazzma.hu/lemezpolc/kulfoldi-eloadok/brahem-anouar/after-the-last-sky/kritika/brahem-anouar-after-the-last-sky/ Rolf Nilsén (se) https://www.lira.se/skivrecension/after-the-last-sky/ Ralf Dombrowski (de) https://www.jazzthing.de/review/anouar-brahem-after-the-last-sky/ Mario Calvitti (it) https://www.allaboutjazz.com/after-the-last-sky-anouar-brahem-ecm-records Par Yves Tassin (fr) https://jazzmania.be/anouar-brahem-after-the-last-sky/ Por Juan Manuel Mannarino (es) https://www.revistaotraparte.com/musica/after-the-last-sky/