The sound of his soul - Dhafer Youssef

Saw Dhafer Youssef last night at the Barbican. Gillyanne and I had only heard one short recording of his voice, played by one of our participants on the Vocal Process Core Training course. Our friend Simone got us press seats for the concert last night, and we really didn't know what to expect. He came out with his band (four players), sat at the microphone, and just held a note a capella, keeping rhythm by beating his chest. It was like a greeting to the audience, and was absolutely spellbinding. As I said to Simone, this is the first time I have witnessed someone opening their mouth to sing and sharing the sound of his soul with nothing in the way.

It's also an extraordinary voice. The sound is clear and strong, he belts up to tenor high C and then goes on up another couple of octaves. He had a slightly sore throat last night, so only (!) managed three and a half octaves.

The musicians are highly accomplished, all with a powerful sense of pulse. It is gratifying to hear music played with a springy inner rhythm - it doesn't always happen! The five of them work very well together, creating different tapestries of sound, and great visuals: three live camcorders projecting images of the band onto mirroring screens at the back. Hats off to the trumpeter Arve Henriksen, who made sounds on the trumpet I didn't know could happen, and then sang solo and duet with Dhafer. His trumpet playing is so evocative, sounding more like a flute or shakuhachi.

Dhafer invited us backstage after his set - he's such a nice guy, full of energy, and very open. We'll definitely be using his recordings on our Core Training course next week.

For a quick example (and reviews) of Dhafer's arabian/nordic fusion music, click on this BBC Jazz link http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/jazz/reviews/youssef_digital.shtml