Simon Shaheen

This is Middle Eastern music after it's moved to Manhattan and spent a lot of nights sipping whisky in dim jazz joints -- yes, that cool. Simon Shaheen bucked convention with 2001's Blue Flame, setting his virtuosic oud and violin playing within a combo that suggests jazz more than traditional Middle Eastern music. The gamble paid off: Shaheen neither violates nor cheapens his traditions with the fusion, instead forging the kind of musical exploration that the best jazz has always trafficked in. The album received 11 Grammy nominations; it's easy to hear why.