Made in Heaven A spiritual journey with Ney Mohammed Antar The question whether or not to make a third solo Ney CD remained unanswerable by Mohammed Antar since the release of his album Oriental Breeze with his group Oriental Secrets Ensemble in 2009. Sometimes, he felt that his two improvisational albums In Mawlana’s Presence, 2007, and The Arab Maqam, 2008, should remain his only solo experiments; yet, in other occasions, he saw it a must to go on recording different styles for Ney through his compositions; and finally, in 2011, after a number of successful solo concerts with percussion, he decided to record a number of Ney albums with his close friend Wael El-Sayyid demonstrating the different possible styles in which Ney can perform as a solo instrument accompanied by oriental percussion. On Wednesday, 25 May, 2011, Mohammed Antar’s album Made in Heaven came to life with six of his spiritual compositions and a couple of improvisational tracks. Thanks to the efforts of his friends Wael El-Sayyid who played the oriental percussive instruments and Michel Abdel-Malik who recorded, mixed and mastered the whole album, the whole recording process lasted for a very short time. The album is divided into two Fasils: the first is a Fasil in Maqam Hijaz and the other is in Dugah. Unlike Antar’s previously recorded compositions, the tone and temper in this album are more heavy and serious because of its overall meditative spirit. Each of the Fasils starts with a very slow rhythm which speeds up with a rhythmic variety as the Fasil develops until it ends in a very fast and cheerful rhythm. This rhythmic diversity reflects a similar ascendency in the melodic and improvisational actions. Antar mixes the Arab, Turkish and Persian styles he mastered into an original style of his own which reflects a deep understanding of the different middle-eastern musical traditions. Wael El-Sayyid, on the other hand, manipulates the two frame drums he uses in this album in a simple but effective way which emphasized the spirituality of the work. The album contains eight tracks which come as follows: I. Hijaz Fasil 1. Hijaz introduction. This freeform piece is a very short composition which introduces the Maqam in a very slow rhythm. 2. Hijaz improvisations. 3. Hijaz Bashraf. A Bashraf or Peshrev is a traditional classical middle-eastern musical form known for its meditative spirit as it is often linked to Sufi music. This Bashraf, however, is slightly different in the fact that it has an unusual ending section in which the rhythm speeds up until it ends in a very fast mood. II. Dugah Fasil 4. Dugah introduction. Another freeform piece in a very heavy and long rhythm introducing one of the branches of the Dugah Maqam family. 5. Dugah improvisations. 6. Meditations. A multi-rhythmic meditative piece consisting of three ascending short melodies which are all opened for improvisation. 7. Munajah. A freeform improvisational composition with no rhythm. 8. Madad Madad. A Sufi dance consisting of three simple melodies. This composition is based on the idea of the Sufi ascendance in which the piece starts in a slow rhythm which gradually speeds up until it ends in a very fast action. The pieces in this album are composed by Mohammed Antar, www.mohammedantar.com. Recorded in Hosanna Studio, Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday, 25 May, 2011. Cover designed by Sarah Tolba. Special thanks to Wael El-Sayyid for his efforts, guidelines and faithful advice, to Michel Abdel-Malik for engineering the album and for choosing its title, and for Sarah Tolba for designing the album cover. “This album is dedicated to the soul of my late father, and to the souls of the martyrs of the Arab Spring. It is also dedicated to my son Omar, to my family and to the hopefully bright future of the Middle-East. Last but not least, it is dedicated to the entire humanity with my deepest wishes for the success of those who try to spread peace in the world.”.