The desire to get to know one another, and the joy of the musical dialogue is a pervasive force on this album. Kühn emphasizes, “I could learn a lot from my African-Arabian companions. Their rhythm is exceptional - like clockwork, but not static, always on the way to something new. And they are totally open to the way I play”. Out of the Desert is a classic work of group improvisation, while at the same time Kühn’s piano playing remains unmistakeable (on “One, Two, Free”, he once again takes up the alto saxophone). When he digs into the groove of Majid Bekkas’ blues “Foulani”; when he accommodates his partner’s stoical percussion with equally percussive chords; when he takes up a strict form and a minimalistic melody as in “Transmitting”, that relates back to his own harmonic concept, the “Diminished Augmented System”; or when he bursts out of traditional melodic and rhythmic structures and into the boundless realm of free jazz (“One, Two, Free”) - with the creative cooperation that took place in Northwest Africa, Kühn has once again gifted a monument of unique contributions to the music world. 

With Out of the Desert, Kühn delivers convincing proof that there are still many new words to add to the world language of music, even when one has to go to the desert to find them.