Wajdi Cherif: Phrygian Istikhbar, Reviewed by Paul Donnelly (2003)

On September 14, 2003, eJazzNews published Paul Donnelly’s review of Phrygian Istikhbar, the first recording by the Tunisian pianist Wajdi Cherif, billed as “Tunisian Acoustic Jazz.” Donnelly, who said he liked music that mixes genres, concluded that this blend of Tunisian melody and rhythm with a jazz group worked. Cherif is still recording; in December 2025 he released a live EP made in New York.

What the review said

Donnelly gave much of his attention to the band rather than the leader alone. He wrote that Diego Imbert’s bass both underpinned the piano and stood up as a voice of its own, and he pointed to the second track, a folk-like theme with close interplay between piano and percussion. The review spells that track “El Casba”; the album credits list it as “El Gasba.”

On “Waiting for Paris,” Donnelly heard Cherif at his most romantic, improvising over light cymbal work and firm bass in a piano trio setting with no overt Arabic influence. On the title track the Tunisian side returned, as Cherif worked through a winding theme and its variations, closely shadowed by Habib Samandi on derbouka and bendir. The closing “Tunis by Night,” a solo piece, struck him as a reflective way to end. He noted that the six tracks lasted just over 30 minutes, praised the warm recording and the balance between the players, and said he hoped for more.

Nine days later eJazzNews published a second review of the same record by John Kelman, who compared Cherif with the oud players Anouar Brahem and Rabih Abou-Khalil: read John Kelman’s review of Phrygian Istikhbar.

The players on the record

Phrygian Istikhbar was released on the WECH Records label in 2003. It was recorded in Paris with Diego Imbert on double bass, Jeff Boudreau on drums and Habib Samandi on the derbouka, a goblet drum, and the bendir, a frame drum, both common in North African music. Donnelly counted a quartet; Kelman described a piano trio with percussion added on some tracks.

Imbert, born in Paris in 1966, came to the double bass in 1995 after years on violin and electric bass. He later spent close to ten years in Didier Lockwood’s trio, played in Biréli Lagrène’s Gipsy Project, and from 2008 led his own quartet, which released its fourth album, Le Temps Suspendu, in August 2023. Cherif, who describes himself as largely self-taught, studied jazz piano and harmony in France with Bernard Maury, co-founder of the Bill Evans Piano Academy in Paris.

What happened next

Cherif’s second album, Jasmine, came out on WECH in 2006 with Yoni Zelnik on bass, Mourad Benhammou on drums, David Sauzay on saxophones and flute and Hamdi Makhlouf on oud. All About Jazz reviewers covered both Phrygian Istikhbar and Jasmine, and a third album, Fuzzy Colours, followed in 2009. His All About Jazz profile now gives New York City as his base, and Live at FTH Theatre, NYC, released in December 2025, is a four-track set that includes the standards “The Touch of Your Lips” and “But Not for Me.” Readers who want the trio tradition Donnelly heard on “Waiting for Paris” can start with our list of jazz pianists.

Sources

• Budd Kopman, “Wajdi Cherif: Phrygian Istikhbar,” All About Jazz, April 11, 2005.
• Budd Kopman, “Wajdi Cherif: Jasmine,” All About Jazz, May 17, 2006.
• “Wajdi Cherif,” All About Jazz musician profile.
• “Phrygian Istikhbar,” Apple Music (WECH Records, 2003).
• “Live at FTH Theatre, NYC,” Apple Music, 2025.
• “Diego Imbert,” Wikipédia.
• Diego Imbert, “Diego Imbert,” official website.
• “Bernard Maury,” Wikipédia.
• Wajdi Cherif, “Biographie,” Wajdi Cherif: Jazz and beyond.

This page is based on an article from the original eJazzNews archive (2001 to 2018), with background and sources added in 2026. The original text is not republished here. You can read the original as it appeared on eJazzNews via the Internet Archive.
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