Watching the live performances featured herein, you will immediately notice Maalouf’s intentional collaboration between the band and the audience. Ibrahim rides the energetic exchange with his audience like a Taoist master. The Maalouf community is a hive, with each individual participating in the trance of prayer, daydreaming, and homeland memory together and alone.
Some performances live on not just because of what’s played, but because of who is playing, and when. One such moment can be found in “Can’t Find My Way Home,” the luminous ballad from the short-lived 1969 supergroup Blind Faith, revisited decades later in a transcendent live performance by Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton—joined quietly, but powerfully, by a young Derek Trucks.: Beautiful
The song’s origin is as simple as it is tender. According to Hall, “Back to You” was born out of a phone call with his partner, Emory Hall, during a long stretch on the road. She called to say she couldn’t sleep without him, and that moment of longing stirred something more profound in him.