Reem Kelani was born in Manchester, in the UK and brought up in Kuwait. Reem’s father comes from Ya’bad near Jenin, and her mother from Nazareth in Galilee. Reem enjoyed early exposure to all sorts of music. She learned the piano and listened to the Jazz standards her father used to sing at home. She studied the Quran as a child and used to hear the calls to prayer about her in Kuwait. Life in the Diaspora also meant that she was exposed to the music of the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, East Africa, the Levant, and Egypt. It was while at a family wedding in the Galilee that Reem as a child was attracted to Palestinian music.
Reem has been recording and collating folk songs from women in her maternal home of Nazareth, in the refugee camps of Palestine and Lebanon and elsewhere in the Diaspora.
Now considered as one of the foremost researchers and performers of Palestinian music Reem Kelani recorded Sprinting Gazelle – Palestinian Songs from the Motherland and the Diaspora. Some songs on the CD are Reem’s research and arrangement of traditional (and some very old) Palestinian songs; the others are her own musical settings of popular and resistance poetry by Mahmoud Darwish, Salma Khadra, Jayyusi Rashid Husain and Mahmoud Salim al-Hout.
Reem’s band includes a Jazz rhythm section comprising Zoe Rahman on piano, Idris Rahman on tenor saxophone clarinet and bass clarinet, Oli Hayhurst on double bass and Patrick Illingworth on drums. Egyptian violinist Samy Bishai and Iranian percussionist Fariborz Kiani complete the line-up.
Other artists on Sprinting Gazelle D include: Armenian duduk player Tigran Aleksanyan (playing the ancient and haunting Palestinian double-clarinet the yarghul); film-composer Dirk Campbell (who lends his string arrangements and nay playing); Salah Dawson Miller (on Arabic percussion); Paul Clarvis (on drums and frame drums) and Sonia Slany with her Solid Strings Quartet.
Reem Kelani sees her project as a means of demonstrating the fact of the Palestinians’ existence now and in the past. She views her musical journey as both historical and political, personal and collective. She seeks to point out suffering and to highlight celebration. Her journey is a musical one through the written and oral history of a people who are proud of their collective sense of poetry stories music and existence. This is manifested in the detailed accompanying booklet, which includes introductory notes for each song lyrics in Arabic and English and a comprehensive glossary of musical and cultural terms.
Leon Rosselson of Fuse Records offered his advice and his record label. This gave Reem the opportunity to produce the CD herself, thus maintaining her musical and cultural integrity and her independence. Raising the necessary funds for the project was by no means easy, but with the help of friends, family, and supporters the CD was finally made. It took two years in the process and is the culmination of more than 2 years of effort and hope.
In 2018, Reem Kelani released an EP titled “Why Do I Love Her.” Reem aid about the project: “In October 2016, I performed with my wonderful band at the Tabernacle in London for a second time as part of the Nour Festival of Arts, co-promoted by Arts Canteen.
“The concert afforded the opportunity for the launch of my second album Live at the Tabernacle (Fuse Records, 2016). We also decided to record the gig for good measure, and I am proud to present this digital EP, comprising four songs from that memorable evening.
“The songs, which have never been released before, range from a Kuwaiti love song that I learnt as a child, to a subversive traditional Palestinian song from the Galilee, a self-penned title track about my anguished love for Palestine, and a blues number that I always sang for my late mother.
“In short, these four songs constitute an autobiographical roundtrip between East, West and in between!”In short, these four songs constitute an autobiographical roundtrip between East, West and in between!
“Enjoy this bipolar journey, as much as the band and I enjoyed our travels on the night.”
The band on Why Do I Love Her included Bruno Heinen (UK/USA) on piano; Ryan Trebilcock (UK) on double bass; Antonio Fusco (Italy) on drums; and Reem Kelani (Palestine/UK) on vocals, frame drum & kazoo.
Discography:
Sprinting Gazelle – Palestinian Songs from the Motherland and the Diaspora (Fuse Records, 2006)
Reem Kelani: Live at the Tabernacle (Fuse Records, 2016)
Why Do I Love Her (Fuse Records, 2019)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.