Arabic music (not elsewhere classified)

This oddly titled CD, Yatahadda Michael Jackson, also sounds promising (if full of familiar songs--and not by MJ, incidentally).

Lebanese-Egyptian singer Laure Dakkash died in Cairo; she was 88. She had a hit song in 1939, it was titled Aminti Bi-l-Lah. But the song continued to be played in Arab media. I used to do an imitation of the song because it was odd in lyrics and music. Let me sing it for you:
Aminti bi-l-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Aminti bi-l-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Nur jamalik ayah
aya mni-l-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Aminti bi-l-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

Mohamed Iskandar needs no introduction; his long fruitful journey in his musical career made him one of the icons of Lebanese music.

We are proud to announce the release of his new album with 8 terrific brand new tracks of pure Lebanese Shaabi and folkloric music.

Iskandar Studied music and learned how to play Oud in the Conservatoire in 1984. Graduated from Layali Lebanon Program in 1988 and got the Golden Medallion for the Lebanese Shaabi Music category. Also in 1988 he released his all-time smash hit “Meen El Shaagel Balak” which was a great success and gave him huge exposure in the Middle East. (it is interesting to know that this song was written and composed by him)

During his long journey he released 15 albums with more than 140 songs and 20 video clips

the 8 tracks are great additions to the artist’s rich repertoire.. The first single is track no.3 La Tekser Bikhater Mara, which is expected to set the dance/Dabkah floors on fire. First track Hakeeni is a great opening with the outstanding Mawal in the beginning. Iskandar is famous with his perfect Mawwals as he starts most of his songs with one. Of course folkloric songs like Track 4 Ataba w Mejana and 5 Jammal are excellent Dabkah tracks which can be heard mostly in weddings.

This is a must-have album for all Lebanese Shaabi/folkloric music lovers, Dabkah lovers and Mohamed Iskandar fans which are a lot and the longevity in his musical career is a perfect proof.

http://www.mondomix.com/en/videos.php?artist_id=202&reportage_id=565

http://mattgy.net/music/

From Matt's blog on December 11th (he also posts songs):

"Last weekend I got a bunch of my friends to join in a trip up to Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb northeast of Paris, to see a Moroccan gnawa concert by Hmida Boussou. As many of you already know, Clichy-sous-Bois was the original flashpoint for the recent riot troubles in France. The point of the trip was then two-fold: to check-out this place so badly portrayed in the media as a centre of racial hatred and burning cars, and to listen to some great live gnawa music from down in Essaouira.

As expected, Clichy-sous-Bois’ downtown turned out to be a quiet little French town much like any other Parisian suburb. That said, we weren’t in the middle of the cités but as one Clichy-sous-Bois resident put it, “this isn’t Chechnya.” It’s actually a nice little place that’s a pain in the ass to access using public transport at night. The Boussou concert was part of the ongoing Afrocolor festival in the suburbs of Paris. I’ve been busy with work, life and travel so I haven’t been able to check-out any of the other shows, but the programme is impressive and the festival is quite well-organized.

The Gnawa are a sufi Islamic brotherhood from southern Morocco (around Marrakesh and Essaouira) who use music, rhythm and dance to heal and entrance their followers. Gnawa music has become sort of trendy in Western culture this last while which is why I ask myself, isn’t track 5 on the Cowboy Bebop sountrack a gnawa song? Does anyone know anything about it? Song posted below.

Anyway, the Hmida Boussou concert was great. He’s a well-known Gnawa musician back home and if my armchair Google research is any indication he commands a far-reaching and good reputation. At the show everyone was rockin’ out to the rhythms and an entranced fan or two even hit a trance and dropped to their knees on stage. Definitely worth the RER. I picked-up his CD called Les Fils de Bambara on the way out - don’t think you can buy it in stores."

Really? What little I heard didn't sound too Algerian, but I heard very little. I'm not too interested in her.

Gnawa is good live. Well, the only performer I've seen is Hassan Hakmoun. Too bad I missed him last time he was here. (I didn't plan my day well, and then at the last minute I was trying to hail a taxi in pouring rain, while dodging homicidal Philadelphia drivers. I got so fed up with the whole thing that I just went home.)

http://www.maqam.com/cdcvr/NM-HMC1341.jpg

Layali Nour

Oh, I heard something from that new Souad Massi album--I think it was the tribute to that Iraqi singer--and I liked it more than I'd expected. I'm still not very interested in her voice though.

Syrian music star sings praise of suicide bombers

By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Syrian singer of a band that was detained by the FBI's Terrorism Task Force for suspicious activity during a recent flight to Los Angeles has written about the "glorification" of suicide bombers to liberate Palestine.

Singer Nour Mehana's latest album includes the song "Um El Shaheed," or "Mother of a Martyr," said Aluma Dankowitz of the Middle East Media Research Institute.

The song tells the story of a woman who mourned her son's death until she realized that "he died for a good cause and he should be glorified for what he did," said Miss Dankowitz, who translated the song for The Washington Times.

Mr. Mehana, widely known as the Syrian Wayne Newton, sings to the mother that her son's goals are heroic and she should be happy he is dead.

"The song opens with the depiction of a mother crying over her son. He has said goodbye to his friends and family and is not going to come back. He went with a weapon in one palm and his heart in another palm and he's not going to come back," Miss Dankowitz said. "He went to fight to free Palestine, Golan Heights and South Lebanon."

The song ends with chants of "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," a common Muslim expression. Those were the last words shouted by a September 11 hijacker before the plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field and have been the last words of many suicide bombers in Israel.

Mr. Mehana's 14 Syrian band members were detained by officials June 29 upon deplaning Northwest Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles, for acting in a suspicious manner that concerned the flight crew and air marshals on board.

Meanwhile, federal officials were summoned to Capitol Hill yesterday to brief Senate and House Judiciary Committee staff in response to reports of the incident, and the Federal Air Marshals Association requested a meeting with top officials in the Homeland Security Department.

Passenger Annie Jacobsen reported earlier this month in Women's Wall Street that the Syrians consecutively filed in and out of restrooms, stood nearly the entire flight in congregations of two and three, carried a McDonald's bag into the lavatory and passed it to another Syrian, and carried cameras and cellular phones to the restroom.

Just before landing, seven of the men jumped up in unison and went inside the restrooms. Upon returning to his seat, one man mouthed the word "no" as he ran his finger across his throat.

The men were flying on a one-way ticket via Northwest, and returning on a one-way ticket aboard JetBlue.

An Immigration Customs Enforcement official said Monday the men had overstayed their visit and should have returned on June 10, but a Homeland Security Department spokesman said they learned late Tuesday that an extension had been granted through July 15.

Officials called to Capitol Hill included Randy Beardsworth, director of Homeland Security's Operations, Border and Transportation Security Office; Thomas Quinn, director of the Federal Air Marshals Service; and Willie Hulon, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division.

One staffer who attended the briefing said officials were "very cagey" on details, which he described as "very frustrating."

However, the officials confirmed air marshals found the activities unusual and suspicious.

"They are trying to have it both ways and say yes, our people are smart enough to see something and that's why they called for authorities, but they deny it was as scary as it has been portrayed," the staffer said.

Homeland Security officials say they have no intelligence that terrorists are conducting dry runs on airplanes.

Federal air marshals and pilots also back Mrs. Jacobsen's account as similar to other incidents, and say terrorists constantly are probing security.

The Federal Air Marshals Association yesterday requested a meeting with top Homeland Security officials to discuss the issue of terrorist dry runs.

"A test run for terrorism is not to be ignored," said Bob Flamm, director of the association. "When a citizen stands up and speaks out in regard to air safety, it is the responsibility of law-enforcement officials involved to seek out the truth and not bury it."--http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040728-111758-3815r.htm

Asmahan is so cool looking. (I'm googling Syrian music. Given her place in the Cairo music scene, I consider her to have been an Egyptian singer, regardless of having been born in Syria.)

Serhat Koksal (2/5BZ) will two mounth ( august and september 06 ) artist residency in Berlin/Podewil for Tesla Sound & Video Art project .
* http://www.tesla-berlin.de/_content.php?LanguageChooser=EN&aktion=SHOW_PAGE&Page_ID=184

* 2/5 BZ new 12 inch EP " MILITANT ORIENTAL / PEEL SESSION II " RELEASED in 15 th February 2006 from own' GOZEL RECORDS 002 ' label . SIDE A TRACKS BROADCASTED IN BBC RADIO 1 JOHN " PEEL SESSION " in DECEMBER 2004

* ''...and that track is from one of my favourites sessions of the recent past,from 2/5 BZ from Istanbul.No Touristik No Exotic it is called..'' John Peel BBC Radio1 2004
* '' Of all the music I heard in Turkey , I liked 2/5BZ best '' John Peel

DISTROS ;

* Hardwax ( Germany ) http://hardwax.com/label/gozel-records/
Gözel Records 002 Euro 12" @ EUR 9,00
2/5 BZ: Militant Oriental Peel Sessions II
wild oriental flav. cut-up scapes of turkish movie scores, pop etc.

* Juno ( UK )
http://www.juno.co.uk/ppps/products/209148-01.htm
2/5 BZ Militant Oriental Peel Session 2 (12") Gozel Istanbul 23 Feb 06 £7.99
Militant Oriental (Peel Session 2)
Karabesk (Peel Session 2)
Okuz Istanbul (Peel Session 2)
Petrol Stress (remake)
Bbam (electro Saz Baglama)
Saka Etmiyorum (Nurkish dub)

* Toolbox ( France )
http://www.toolboxrecords.com/catalog/Gozel+Records+02,p3554.html
* Militant Oriental Peel Session II"
* oriental psyche breakz » TOOLBOX
2/5 BZ, Serhat Koksal
' .. Something you'll just love and dig for years and years ! Probably the best record since beginning of 2006 ! ENJOY !!!
http://www.toolboxrecords.com

* Dj Nexus ( Usa ) http://www.djnexus.com/view_record.cfm?record_id=449373
2/5 Bz Militant Oriental Peel Session (Part 2) Gozel Istanbul Leftfield $11.52 @

* 12inch RU ( RUSSIA ) 2/5 BZ 12" 530 руб. Доставка от 7 до 10 рабочих дней
http://www.12inch.ru/catalogue.php?page=7&search=&filter=&InSt=

* * TOON'Z ( France ) http://www.toonzshop.com/cat.php?artiste=988
Une petite perle de serhat koskal and 2/5 bz.un disque que l'on garde precieusement ...

**** 2/5 BZ aka Serhat Koksal will play audiovisual performance ****

* in Audiovisiva 2006 Festival Milano /Italy in 25 th March http://www.audiovisiva.com
* in Record Release Party in Peyote/ Istanbul in 6 th April.
http://www.geocities.com/serhatkoksal/plakparti
* in 103 Club / 'Save This Date' Twen Fm Festival in Berlin 20 th april .
http://www.twenstream.de/joomlaa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=90
* in St Petersburg / Russia SKIF-10 Festival in 22th,24th April
http://www.kuryokhin.ru/skif/artists_e.php?id_art=2
* in St Petersburg / Russia Ges-21 in 24 th April http://www.aktivist.ru/clubs/articles/a21279.asp

2/5 BZ February 2006 Performances & Released John 'Peel Session II' 12' EP from Gozel Records .

http://www.transmediale.de/page/detail/detail.0.persons.703.3.html
http://www.juno.co.uk/ppps/products/209148-01.htm
http://www.toolboxrecords.com/catalog/Gozel+Records+02,p3554.html
http://www.djnexus.com/view_record.cfm?record_id=449373
http://www.12inch.ru/catalogue.php?page=7&search=&filter=&InSt=
http://www.clubtransmediale.de/index.php?id=2275
http://www.sonicacts.com/item_detail.php?id=54
http://www.tesla-berlin.de/_content.php?LanguageChooser=EN&aktion=SHOW_PAGE&Page_ID=184
http://3headz.de/blog/index.php?title=docile_people_listen_to_docile_music&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
http://www.hardwax.de
http://www.transmediale.de/page/detail/detail.0.projects.492.3.html

* Serhat Köksal founded his 2/5 BZ project in Istanbul in 1986. As a constantly evolving multimedia project, the output is in disparate formats: tapes, video collages, CD-ROMs, audio CDs, photocopied zines and live performances. The performances of 2/5 BZ aka Serhat Köksal are exuberant cut-up montages of traditional music, experimental electronic sounds, TV and B-movie images, brought together in a dadaistic confrontation of pop, orientalism, kitsch, comic and folklore. Serhat Köksal performed 80 audiovisual concert on festivals, clubs, exhibitions in Europe, Asia, North America. Under the slogan "No Exotic, No Ethnic Market, No Touristik" he investigates culturalistic clices and their effects on the economical and political situation of individuals and 2/5 BZ have two times John 'Peel Session' in BBC Radio 1 and presenting on the subject of Turkish pop cinema and deconstruction, exotic tourism and anti-city myths, copy culture and remakes, critical sound art and audiovisual experimentation using found footage, field recordings and samples - in short: a critical and humorous re-use of mass culture. He lives and works in Istanbul.
* http://www.geocities.com/serhatkoksal/nashusatour USA
* http://www2.festival-gmbh.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=5057 LUDWIGSBURG
* http://www.tesla-berlin.de/_content.php?aktion=SHOW_PAGE&Page_ID=117 BERLIN
* http://www.popbuero.de/index.php?l=Veranstaltungskalender&detail_id=3466 STUTTGART
* http://www.frieze.com/feature_single.asp?f=1115 ISTANBUL BIENALE / U.K.
* http://www.reboot.fm/news/item?item%5fid=281789 BERLIN
* http://borderphonics.samizdat.net/webradio/?p=79 NET / FRANCE
* http://www.toolboxrecords.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2847 FRANCE MAIL ORDER
* http://www.add-on.at/cms/side10.html WIEN
* http://orange.or.at/programs/radia/emission?emission_id=187885 WIEN
* http://www.fulldozer.ru/news/102 MOSCOW
* http://www.lodziana.pl/archiwum/roz01181.html WARSAW
* http://www.mqw.at/programmdatenbank/index.php?tmp=q21-det&von=2005-08-28&TID=1453
* http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/tracklistings/peel_archive_shtml.shtml?20030506 PEEL SESSION

http://www.2-5bz.com http://conkzine.2-5bz.com

Asmahan, movie clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdMP4Yv_hFQ

Some recommendations. (Also check your e-mail.) This is probably going to be overkill, but--

For things kind of related to the Syrian/Lebanese style George Wassouf typically used to perform in (when he wasn't doing covers of Egyptian classics):

Yousef Shamoun: Taneh Wu Raneh (2005). Syrian singer living in the US. He's technically a much better singer, and possibly better all around.

Lebanese singer, Mohammad Iskandar's Hakini, also from 2005, is pretty good too, although it's grown off me somewhat, maybe because of the constant festive shouting in just about all the songs. It has some nice driving electric guitar though, and great rhythms.

There's a crazy compilation (very choppily edited at times), Sahrat Ataba Mijana, from a US-based label, that has some good material on it. I think it's mostly Syrian and Lebanese.

(As far as George Wassouf goes, almost everything I have is on cassette. If you were interested in him, I would avoid the stuff after, say, 1994, but you might want to go back farther than that. Of course, I doubt many Arabic music distributors include release dates on their sites.)

Ali Aldik - Aloush (Hooked on debka!)

*

For possibly heavier stuff (with more of an Egyptian slant), I recommend these:

(1) Popular performers with a classical and traditional foundation. (Many Arabs would simply describe this as classial music, actually):

Oum Kalthoum - Ana Fe Entezarak
Oum Kalthoum - Roba'Eyat El Khayam
Oum Kalthoum - Ya Zalemny
Oum Kalthoum - Al Atlal
Asmahan - Asmahan [ASMCD 601]
Farid El Atrache - Wehyat Eineri [Cairophon, CXGCD 629]
Farid El Atrache - The Legend [EMI393850] (I don't know all these songs by names, but based on what I recognize, it looks like a good compilation)
Fairouz - Safarbarlek - Bint el Harass
Marcel Khalife - At the Border

(2) Instrumental &/or mostly classical or folkloric:

Rahim AlHaj - When the Soul is Settled - Music of Iraq
Ali Jihad Racy - Simon Shaheen - Taqasim
Various Artists - Maqams of Syria
Farida - Mawal & Maqamat Iraqi
Ghada Shbeir - Al Muwashahat
Ensemble Al-Umayri - The Sawt in Kuwait

Context:

Thanks for those clips Rockist, they have made my night here at work. This guy is the real deal. Any recs for a beginner in this area ?

-- oscar, Wednesday, May 30, 2007 3:50 AM (Yesterday)

Yousef Shamoun (excessively long intro.):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGfUuPyqBOc

okay so i heard thsi great song with this massive beat, and this woman's voice singing in arabic, a really light, falsetto vibrato voice, and the words repeat the line
"i need you, my sweetheart" or "ana eyzak, ya habibi"

it's one of the best things i think i've ever heard, and i have NO idea what it is. i just have it on this mix. i'm gonna have to figure this out.

also, the song starts with like this bizarre sigourney weaver quote, or something, something from a movie - i'll have to decipher the quote when i get home

If you can put it up somewhere I will try to identify it. Do you know what country it's from?

no i don't but i will put it up tonight, i'm AAAACCCCHING to know. it sounds really, really, really beautiful to me.

rockist i'm gonna have to email it to you for now.

so the quote at the beginning definitely sounds like sigourney weaver and it's like "the earth was like a giant marble, an i was a ---- on it"

i'm forgetting what the word is, and i don't want to go back to the beginning right now cuz this lady is singing and crooning and i'm melting.

no: the earth was like a marble, and i was a giant on it

Well, it sounds like something I won't be able to identify, but I might at least have some idea of its provenance.

OK UPDATE!!!

fucking Transglobal Underground with Natasha Atlas

I know, BUT this song is AMAZING! really mindblowing.

there seems to be no thread about Sudanese music so I'm asking here, does anyone know Abdel Gadir Salim? I think I've heard a record by him yesterday, forgot the name but remember talking about Sudanese blues

anyone heard of this guy?

Here's something from Sudan

http://www.alfikra.org/inshads_e.php

Are there any threads on oud music? I searched for some but could not find any. I now have some random oud records, and I am curious as to whether they are by people previously recommended.

Oudists: S/D

(I am awake.)

Duh, I never thought to search for oudists. Cheers RS.

Sexy Lebanese music site:

http://www.musicoflebanon.com/adiab.htm

(Actually Amro Diab isn't Lebanese, but Oscar D'Leon isn't Puerto Rican either and he shows up on PR music sites, so whatever--I care about her. Please tell me that's not just some generic windows thing.)

If you're into Lebanese pop, by far my fave is Nancy Ajram:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UT9JOO9xN8

Judeo-Arabic music

Dear All,

We would like to invite you to this year's Andalousies Atlantiques Festival, celebrating the prodigious musical heritage of al-Andalus. This year's event will take place in Essaouira from October 30 to November 1, 2008 and will pay tribute to two giants of Judeo-Arabic music who passed away earlier this year - the Moroccan Sami El Maghribi and the Algerian Lili Boniche. Among the groups performing are El Gusto, a 50-person ensemble that reunites veteran chaabi musicians who performed together in the casbah of Algiers in the 1950s - including Maurice El Medioni, Ahmed Bernaoui, Rene Perez, and Luc Cherki under the leadership of Abdelhadi Halo; Maxime Karouchi, a young Moroccan-born vocalist who performs Andalusian nuba, and Sami El Maghribi's melhoun and chaabi repertoire; Mohamed Briouel and the Orchestre Andalous de Fes - Briouel directs the Music Conservatory of Fez, and won the Prix du Maroc for his book Moroccan Andalusian Music: Nouba Gharibat Al Husayn; and the group Jil Jilala, who fuse the rhythms of Issawa and Gnawa with melhoun, and whose songs of protest of the 1970s and 1980s have become classics.

During the morning, panels will bring together researchers, journalists and musicians to discuss the music legacy of al-Andalus. Films, documentaries and exhibits will be shown during the afternoon - concerts begin at 6:00pm.

Here is a link to a newsreport on last year's Andalousies Atlantiques festival:

The Arabesque music festival at the Kennedy Center in DC from February 23rd to March 15th should be good.

Here are some of the February events and I've linked below to the site for all of the gigs

Mon. 2-23

Oud Knights with Amina and Shayma: When Oud Speaks (female oud
players from Bahrain) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived)
at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
__________________________________________________________
Tues. 2-24
Al-Farah Choir: Damascene Jasmine (Based in the Lady of Damascus
Church in Syria, more than 100 children of the choir perform
Byzantine, Muslim, and Arab songs) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast
and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Lebanese Oud master Marcel Khalife w/ the Qatar Philharmonic
Orchestra with Lorin Maazel conducting at the Kennedy Center Opera
House

Cie2k(Moroccan choreographer Khalid Benghrib's all male contemp.
Dance co.) at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (US premiere)

__________________________________________________________
Wed. 2-25
Chabab Al Andalous Rabat Orchestra with Bajeddoub Mohammed and Ronda
Bahae ( orchestra from Rabat, Morocco seeks to preserve Andalusian
music using Arabic poems and traditional instruments) for free from 6
to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Bachir Attar & the Master Musicians of Jajouka at 8 at the Kennedy
Center Eisenhower Theater (highly recommended)
__________________________________________________________
Thurs. 2-26
Amine and Hamza (Tunisian brothers, oud player Amine and qanun player
Hamza M'Raihi play classical Middle Eastern music, as well as their
own compositions) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at
the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
__________________________________________________________
Fri. 2-27

K'NAAN (Hailing from war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, hip hop artist
K'NAAN grew up during the Somali civil war. Despite speaking no
English, he taught himself hip hop and rap diction and now lives in
Toronto) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Ensemble Al-Kindi with Sheikh Habboush and the Whirling Dervishes of
Aleppo, Syria for an evening of music and dance at the Kennedy Center
Eisenhower Theater (should be good I think!)

__________________________________________________________
Sat. 2-28

Nawal (France-based singer from the Comoros Islands in the Indian
Ocean whose acoustic sound is said to resemble Indo-Arabian-Persian
music meets Bantu polyphonies, and the syncopated rhythms and Sufi
trance of the Indian Ocean. Nawal sings in Comoran, Arabic, French
and English) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/festivals/08-09/arabesque/

RS, any recommendations?

That looks great. I'd be curious to hear the female oudists from Bahrain. (Do they accept groupies?) My impression is that there are a lot of good oudists in the Gulf that we just don't hear or hear about much over here. (See the 4-CD Muscat (sp?) oud festival box set.)

I think Khalife plus orchestra tends to be boring, especially if he's doing his instrumental music. (I like his old protest songs best, like the Arab in the street.)

I sometimes think of starting a new thread like this, but making an annual rolling thread, even a broad one, wouldn't make sense. I don't hear enough new-to-me Arabic stuff in one year to justify that.

Yea, just use this one.

I missed the Bahrain female oud duo last night but the hour gig was videotaped and you can watch it here http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=AMINASHAYM

--

I did get a press ticket to the hour and 15 minute "Arabeque" sampler preview event-

a mostly sweet-voiced 100 child Damascus choir;

a noisy awesome number by Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Jajouka from Morocco(4 percussionists and 4 guys on what I think is called a ghaita, which is like an oboe but squeeks more );

a solo ghaita number by Attar;

the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra doing a Marcel Khalife composition with Khalife's younger son hitting a smallish bongo-like percussion instrument(his playing made the piece);
a literature reading;

"Oman, Oh man" a dance number choreographed by Debbie Allen and featuring a young vocalist nicely chanting to Allah;

Marcel Khalife and his Al Mayadine Ensemble doing a tribute to Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, plus another number. Khalife's voice is so warm and touching while his oud playing is more raw in feel and his band jazzy---his oldest son playing discordant piano, youngest son sitting on a wooden box and banging it--like a Peruvian cajon; and an acoustic bass player getting deep notes out of his instrument. They got real noisy at one point with the piano-playing son, his black jeans hanging low, grabbing the insides of the piano with one hand while htting the keys with the other. Meanwhile, Dad, with a bright red scarf draped dramatically around his neck, feverishly moved the bottom hand on his big ol pear-shaped oud.

The audience was a mix of folks speaking Arabic and dressed in various types of traditional garb, tuxedoed guys who may be Kennedy Center big bucks donors, young Arab women in short skirts and high boots; State Department people and others...

That sounds pretty good, including the Khalife segments.

I can't watch/hear that oud video here, because the same IT department that hasn't updated their two year out of date version of Explorer also hasn't seen fit to make Real Audio available.

Sorry

I can't believe Ensemble Al-Kindi with Sheikh Habboush and the Whirling Dervishes of Aleppo, Syria at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theatre was sold-out Friday night and there were no press passes left. Grrrrr.

Lots more coming to Arabesque in March

March Arabesque events at Kennedy Center (lotsa good ones)

Mon. 3-2

Farida and the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble with Malouma (Mauritania singer/ ardin ten-stringed Mauritanian harp instrumentalist and Senator whose music blends Moorish traditional music with rock and reggae, and was once banned) at 8 at the the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theatre

_______________________________________________________________________
Tues. 3-3
Rami Khalifé ( Oud player Marcel Khalife’s piano-playing son melds classical, improvised jazz, Lebanese and more) with his Juilliard colleague Francesco Tristano ) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Cie La BARAKA (Abou Lagraa, French/Algerian choreographer fuses hip-hop, contemporary dance, and multimedia visuals) at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

________________________________________________________________________
Wed. 3-4

Bnet Houariyat (from the region of Marrakech, Morocco, the five women perform traditional Berber songs and dances) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Karima Mansour (Egyptian dancer/choreographer) & percussionist “Temporament” at the Kennedy Center Family Theater

______________________________________________________________________
Thurs. 3-5

Kinan Azmeh (Syrian clarinetist combines classical with jazz, electronica and Arab music) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

_______________________________________________________________________
Friday 3-6

Salma El Assal (leading Sudanese vocalist—her voice has been compared to Aretha Franklin) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Author and actress Heather Raffo teams with jazz trumpeter and Iraqi santoor player Amir El Saffar for spoken word and music at 7:30 at the Kennedy Center Family Theatre

Simon Shaheen (leading Arab composer and multi-instrumentalist directs an evening entitled “Aswat-Celebrating the Golden Age of Arab Music -1920’s to 1950’s) with a traditional, 12- to 15-piece Arab orchestra and special guest vocalists at 8 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater

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Sat. 3-7

Suheir Hammad (female Palestinian-American hiphop influenced poet) ) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Marcel Khalifé (Lebanese oud player) and his group pay tribute to the late contemporary Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater

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Sun. 3-8

Hoba Hoba Spirit (Casablanca, Morocco electric guitar and drums group plays self-described “Haiha Music,” loosely translated as “Wild Partying Music,” inspired by metal-punk, Gnawa, and Sufi music) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Fathy Salama and orchestra : “Sultany” (Egyptian pianist, producer, arranger, composer of Arabic and jazz sounds who combines trad and modern sounds and collaborated with Youssou N'Dour on the awesome album, Egypt) at 7:30 at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

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Thurs. 3-12-

Oriental Music Ensemble of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Palestine (classical and contemporary Arab music for oud, nay, clarinet, qanun, and percussion) ) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

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Fri. 3-13

Ahmed Fathi (Yemeni singer and oud player) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

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Sat. 3-14

Rum-Tareq Al Nasser (Jordan) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

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Sun. 3-15

Djamel Laroussi and his band (Algerian who combines North African/Saharan desert rhythms with reggae, jazz, hard rock, pop, soul, and funk) ) for free from 6 to 7 (and webcast and archived) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage