Artist Line up:
Kamal Musallam (Dubai)
Kamal Musallam was born in Kuwait on June 8, 1970, He started learning guitar at the age of 9 but took it more seriously when he turned 17. Kamal was educated as an architect and went through various musical experiences throughout his young age and college times; including Arabic bands, Flamenco, Rock and Blues bands.
In the late 1980s to early 1990s, he started discovering Jazz sounds and got to know Pat Metheny, Miles Davis, George Benson, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, among many others. In 1994 he moved to France, where he spent four years, attending festivals and concerts in both France and Switzerland.
In 1997 he moved to Lebanon for one year to work as architect; during which he met Ziad Rahbani and started to be a part of his ensemble. He chose a musical career instead of archietecture. Eventually, he settles in Jordan, and established his own label. He produced his first album “On a Jordan River’s Side” (K&G Productions 2003). At present, he is settled in Dubai, and is active as a performer and producer. His main active bands are Kamal Musallam Group and Kamal Musallam Trio.
Musallam is presently playing a new hybrid of the guitar and oud called the Glissentar, created by Godin. And he has just developed with Ibanez guitars a new design of a signature model mixing jazz guitar and nylon fretless guitar.
The Walk, JBR – 26 February, 7:45 – 8:45 pm
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 27 February, 8:30 – 9:30 pm
Wust El Balad (Egypt)
Wust El Balad is one of Egypt’s most popular rock bands. They combine traditional Arabic music with a modern and Western twist. Wust El Balad is successful in making their music as accessible as possible – not just in Cairo, but beyond.
Line-up: Ahmed Omran – oud and flute; Hany Adel – guitar and vocals; Adham El-Said – Vocals; Mohammed Gamal El-Din – percussion and drums; Ahmed Omar – bass guitar; Asaad Nessim – Spanish guitar; Ehab Abdel-Hameed – percussion.
The Walk, JBR – 26 February, 9:00 – 10:30 pm
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 27 February, 9:45 – 11:00 pm
Janet Kapuya (Uruguay)
One of the most talented singers in the Tango repertoire and part of the Nuevo Tango movement, Janet started her singing career at the tender age of 8. Born in Uruguay, her family moved to Buenos Aires (Argentina) when she was 12. In Argentina she became a well known tango performer. She was invited to Greece by Greek musicians and ended up settling there.
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 26 February, 8:30 – 10:00 pm
The Walk, JBR – 27 February, 9:00 pm – 10:30 pm
Soulmate
Inspired by the roots and groove sounds of Blues, Blues-rock, Soul, Rock ‘n Roll, Funk and R&B, Soulmate have two albums,”Shillong” and “Moving On”, under their belt.
The Walk, JBR – 27 February, 7:45 pm – 8:45 pm
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 28 February, 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Sanam Marvi (Pakistan)
She trained under her father Fakir Ghulam Rasool, and later with Ustad Fateh Ali Khan of the Gwalior gharana (school). She studied Sufi poetry extensivel and is deeply influenced by this genre because of its messages of love and peace.
She became popular after her performance at Coke Studio, a Pakistani television series featuring cutting edge live music performances.
Sanam Marvi sings compositions of Baba Bulleh Shah; Baba Sheikh Fari; Sachal Sarmast, the Sufi mystic from Sindh; and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, who is one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language.
The Walk, JBR – 28 February, 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 1 March, 9:45 pm – 11:00 pm
Amit Chatterjee Alliance (United States)
Fusion guitarist Amit Chatterjee is able to seamlessly flow in and out of European and American harmonies and classical North Indian melodic forms, and move towards a sound which is unique, reflecting the atmosphere of today in a natural way.
The Amit Chatterjee Alliance is a group of musicians from around the world in different fields of music, collaborating with Amitava Chatterjee (Amit Chatterjee) who is known for his musical efforts to come upon a music that seamlessly and spontaneously flows between European and American harmonies, classical North Indian melodic forms and other profound music from the great cultures around the world, making a new music for a new time. Assimilating the wisdom gained from great musicians whith whom he continues to play, including:
Amit Chatterjee peformed performed 7 years with the Zawinul Syndicate. He also worked with Layne Redmond, Badal Roy, Victor Bailey, Alex Acuna, Peter Erskine, Jim Beard, David Liebman, Eric Johnson, Michael Wolff, Pete Lockett, Mike Clark, Lincoln Goines, Nitin Sawhney, Glen Velez, Vicki Richards, Robert Thomas Jr, and many others.
Members: Amitava Chatterjee – electric guitar, vocals; Alan Mian – Electric and acoustic bass guitars; Peter De Girolamo – keyboards; Walter Sitz – drums
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 28 February, 9:45 pm – 11:00 pm
The Walk, JBR – 1 March, 9:00 pm – 10:30 pm
The Afif Bros.featuring. Mounir Troudi (Lebanon)
Mounir Troudi has a voice that not only sings but goes beyond mere verbal expression. Playing alongside Troudi, Elie Afif, originally from Beirut, will also be featuring with his band, the Afif Brothers
The Walk, JBR – 1 March, 7:45 pm – 8:45 pm
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai- 27 February, 9:00 – 10:30 pm
HFT (India)
Delhi based Jazz Fusion band HFT, was formed in 2004 and features veteran musicians in the Indian music scene: Arjun Sen – Guitar; Lew Hilt – Bass; and Sam Shullai – Drums.
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 1 March, 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Walk, JBR – 2 March, 7:45 pm – 8:45 pm
Mashrou’ Leila (Lebanon)
Mashrou’ Leila -Arabic for ‘an overnight project’ are known for their Arabic fusion music style, incorporating Arabic music, rock, folk and other genres. What started out as a music workshop for students has taken over Beirut by storm and won the Lebanese Modern Music Contest jury prize.
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 3 March, 7:45 pm – 8:45 pm
The Walk, JBR – 4 March, 8:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Mouna Amarcha (Morocco)
Young Moroccan singer Mouna Amarcha is recognised as a burgeoning musical talent with massive appeal. The style of her music is Khaleeji Pop and she is widely recognized for her unique vocal talent throughout the Arab World.
The Walk, JBR – 3 March, 9:00 pm – 10:30 pm
Spongecola (The Philippines)
Sponge Cola is a Filipino rock band with many hit songs including “Lunes” (Monday), “KLSP”, “Jeepney”, “Makapiling Ka” (To be with you) and a gold album under their belt with the hit “Bitiw”
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 3 March, 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Walk, JBR – 4 March, 7:45 pm – 8:45 pm
Black Gandhi (Spain)
Inspired by Indian pacifist leader Mahatma Gandhi and influenced by the traditions of Reggae, Black Gandhi’s music is composed by one message: ‘let’s live a joyful life, let’s be aware of what we do’.
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 3 March, 9:45 pm – 11:00 pm
The Walk, JBR – 4 March, 9:00 pm – 10:30 pm
Miyah of Desert Heat
Emirati Artist Miyah is best known as one half of Arabic hip hop crew Desert Heat.
The Burj Steps, Downtown Dubai – 2 March, 10:00 pm – 10:45 pm
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
