Live Review: Joseph Tawadros

The venue was filled to overcapacity for the sold out show, with staff serving mezze plates and pizzas by singing order numbers through a microphone at the bar. By the time composer and oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros rolled on stage, every member of the audience had silenced in anticipation. Beginning with a soft piano piece, he then moved through the stage and on to the cello, while the remaining members of his band Matt McMahon (piano), Karl Dunnicliff (double bass) and James Tawadros (percussion) followed his lead on separate instruments.

Tawadros combined Egyptian-influenced vocals layered with the erratically fast-paced oud playing while the room watched on, completely entranced. After the first half of his performance, that audience congratulated him with a hugely humble round of applause. During the second half he thanked them for their support, and revealed his latest album World Music totals a whooping 63 instruments (52 of those played himself, 11 played by his brother James). He followed through with a piece off the album The Prophet, titled Reason And Passion, with the audience erupting in applause halfway through.

Leunig At Midnight proceeded, after he told the crowd of how the piece was recorded in New York during a midnight blizzard for his friend Michael Leunig as a kind of an artistic exchange. Towards the end of the second half he played Point Of Departure, an ode to both of his parents. "We like to play a piece for our parents every concert... I like remembering them through music." It was the highlight of the night, filled with immense character and emotional depth. Tawadros ended with a piece that combined elements of bluegrass with the traditional Egyptian sounds of the oud, Permission To Evaporate.