Khyam Allami

World music has had a presence in the Proms for decades, but it’s a tricky thing to place in this overwhelmingly western, orchestral festival. Back in the 1970s, the focus was on the great Hindustani classical tradition of north India. More recently, we’ve had evenings of urban pop-influenced world music, which were enjoyable, but they sat uneasily next to the Mahler and Beethoven symphonies.

Monday’s late-night Prom was a shrewd compromise between the two. It was a showcase for Radio 3’s World Routes Academy, a scheme to foster the threatened traditions of the world by pairing off a promising young performer with an older master. The first recipient of the award is Khyam Allami, a London-based Iraqi who plays in pop bands but found himself mysteriously attracted to the oud, the fretless, dusky-toned Middle-Eastern form of the lute.

Trying to become a master of the instrument after a late start has cost Allami an immense effort, but it’s paid off handsomely. His improvisations on three of the traditional modal templates of Arabic music were beautifully paced, and had the combination of aristocratic reserve and inner intensity one always hopes for.

The older player who had been appointed as Allami’s mentor was not the venerable oud master one might expect, but a benign-looking man wearing a Woody Allen hat, holding nothing more exotic than a guitar. This was Ilham Al Madfai, a singer who once hung out with Georgie Fame and Donovan in London in the 1960s. He is now Iraq’s biggest star, thanks to his special way of taking old folk songs and giving them an irresistible swaying beat, backed with his eight-piece band of percussion, end-blown flute, lutes and that lovely silvery Arab dulcimer, the qanun.

Madfai is a fine guitarist, with a surprising Spanish tinge at times. In truth, he and Allami are chalk and cheese, musically speaking, and only became close when Allami’s oud-playing took on a dancing, irregular beat. But it didn’t matter as they were the perfect foil for each other. Allami provided the moments of rapt stillness, and Madfai got us all swaying to his nostalgically sweet songs. - The Telegraph

Iraq's best-known exiled popular musician, Ilham Al Madfai, has become a hero in his homeland for his mix of stirring, sad-edged traditional and self-penned songs backed with Middle Eastern instrumentation and a Western-influenced rhythm section. His shows often develop into frantic dance parties, but this performance was different. He was not only appearing in the more staid setting of a late-night Prom, but was performing alongside a very different musician, the London-based 'ud player Khyam Allami, whom he has been mentoring as part of Radio 3's World Routes Academy scheme. The result was an uneven show that favoured the newcomer.

The concert was opened by Al Madfai backed by his full band, perching on a stool to demonstrate his flamenco-influenced guitar-work before launching into a couple of his rousing songs, starting with the typically affecting Khuttar. He was backed by 'ud, ney flute and the zither-like qanun, along with electric bass, four percussionists and massed handclaps from the delighted, predominantly Iraqi crowd.

It seemed he was heading for a typically furious performance, but suddenly the mood changed. Al Madfai gave way to Allami, who was backed by just one percussionist for a delicate demonstration of his 'ud playing on a series of Iraqi maqams – semi-improvised pieces that involved drifting passages and sections of frantic strumming.

Then Al Madfai returned, and Allami now showed his skill as an accompanist on a brief acoustic collaboration that included an emotional love song to Baghdad. The show ended with Al Madfai reunited with his band for more rousing favourites, while the crowd sang along or waved Iraqi flags. It was an entertaining, if oddly programmed show, but it was difficult to see what the World Routes Academy mentoring scheme has achieved, apart from a couple of duets. - The Guardian

Iraq's best-known exiled popular musician, Ilham Al Madfai, has become a hero in his homeland for his mix of stirring, sad-edged traditional and self-penned songs backed with Middle Eastern instrumentation and a Western-influenced rhythm section. His shows often develop into frantic dance parties, but this performance was different. He was not only appearing in the more staid setting of a late-night Prom, but was performing alongside a very different musician, the London-based 'ud player Khyam Allami, whom he has been mentoring as part of Radio 3's World Routes Academy scheme. The result was an uneven show that favoured the newcomer.

The concert was opened by Al Madfai backed by his full band, perching on a stool to demonstrate his flamenco-influenced guitar-work before launching into a couple of his rousing songs, starting with the typically affecting Khuttar. He was backed by 'ud, ney flute and the zither-like qanun, along with electric bass, four percussionists and massed handclaps from the delighted, predominantly Iraqi crowd.

It seemed he was heading for a typically furious performance, but suddenly the mood changed. Al Madfai gave way to Allami, who was backed by just one percussionist for a delicate demonstration of his 'ud playing on a series of Iraqi maqams – semi-improvised pieces that involved drifting passages and sections of frantic strumming.

Then Al Madfai returned, and Allami now showed his skill as an accompanist on a brief acoustic collaboration that included an emotional love song to Baghdad. The show ended with Al Madfai reunited with his band for more rousing favourites, while the crowd sang along or waved Iraqi flags. It was an entertaining, if oddly programmed show, but it was difficult to see what the World Routes Academy mentoring scheme has achieved, apart from a couple of duets. - The Guardian

An equally impressive, if more restrained, performance is that of Iranian-born oud player Khyam Allamy, who takes to the same stage the following lunchtime. Hypnotic and immersive, his stark melodies twist around the hand percussion of Andrea Piccioni as neatly as a double helix of DNA. And although his playing draws together geographically disparate traditions – one tune, he explains, takes us from Morocco to Iraq via Italy – not once do the seams show. - The Arts Desk