A crate-digger's delight, a rare gem re-polished, a tomorrow from yesterday: the re-issue of the superb Bennesbeh Labokra… Chou? (‘What About Tomorrow?’ in Lebanese Arabic) should reignite interest in cult figure Ziad Rahbani (born 1956), a Lebanese musician, composer, arranger, pianist, actor and playwright whose compositions are well known throughout the Arab world – inside of which, his mother, the singer Fairouz; and father, Assi Rahbani, one of the founders of modern Arab music, are icons. An avowed Communist and affiliate with Lebanese leftist movements, and by far the most significant artist of the Lebanese civil war, Rahbani wrote plays that spoke to his country's internecine troubles including 1978's What About Tomorrow?, in which comedy interludes led up to a monologue asserting the need for greater social equality.

This, then, is the soundtrack of the play that in 2016 broke Lebanese box office records when issued as a movie. It's a ‘tradi-modern’ work of songs and instrumentals that mix Arabic scales and modern Lebanese music with bossa, jazz and funk, with Jobim-smooth opener ‘First Introduction, all shakers, horns, keys, flutes and swelling strings, setting out the album's stall.

Tracks are cinematic, their clever orchestrations recalling Lalo Schifrin; the quavering tenor of singer/actor Joseph Sakr makes the spacious, lute-accompanied ‘Reda’ a meditation. Of the more jazz-leaning interludes, the languid Variations ‘3’ and 4’ play with pace, tempo and perspective.

Elsewhere, male choruses beseech amid swirling instrumentation. ‘The Last Scene, all found party sounds and louche, slow-burning fervour, seals the deal. A must-have.