'Na'ama' is a refreshing album at the current ethnic music scenery.
Amos Hoffman, a gifted composer and oud player, composed all 12 songs, and performs them while successfully preserving the Arabic music tradition, at the same time combining elements of jazz, latin music and world music.
Hoffman's works is relatively traditional but he adds unusual instruments such as the marimba, which is rarely used in Arab music.
The combination of various instruments and styles to create a unique "fusion" comes naturally to Hoffman, as a musician living in two worlds - the Eastern & Western worlds.
The album is both fascinating and surprising, especially considering Hoffman's Ashkenazi roots (Eastern European).
Instrumental oud album with a Western approach, featuring top musicians:
Amos Hoffman - Oud ; Joshua Levit - Ney ; Ehab Nimer - Violin ; Omer Avital - Bass ; Tomer Zur - Percussion ; Rea Bar Nes - Percussion & Marimba.
One also finds the famous jazz bass player Avishai Cohen as guest musician on track #11.

Amos Hoffman
Composer, Guitar & Oud Player
Amos Hoffman started as a classic guitar player. On his 8th birthday, his father gave him an oud as a present. He never studied the oud formally but taught himself, and over the years became the talented composer & player he is today.
At the age of 20, he left for New York where he played for 8 years with top jazz musicians such as Dennis Charles, Avishai Cohen, Sam Newsom (with whom he had also recorded an album), J Collins and others. He also recorded an album (at the Spanish FRESH SOUND label) with Jorge Rossy, Duane Eubanks and Avishai Cohen. During his stay in NY, he was studying oud and maqam (the Arabic modus) with the famous Lebanese ney & oud player Bassam Saba (who played with Simone Shaheen).
In 1999, he returned to Israel and is currently performing and teaching guitar.

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