Anouar Brahem – Blue Maqams (ECM Records, 2017) Blue Maqams brings together Anouar Brahem, one of the great masters of the oud, and three of…
Extraordinarily Expressive Contemporary Maqams
Tag: Arabic music
Syriana’s Ipiros Remixes for a Great Cause
Syriana – Ipiros Remixes (Realworld Records, 2017) This 5-track digital-only EP features several variations of Ipiros. This song was originally made for Syriana’s Road To…
Music to Realize Peace
Rahim Alhaj – Letters from Iraq: Oud and String Quintet (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings SFW40577, 2017) Two ancient traditions meet on Letters from Iraq: Oud and…
Le Trio Joubran to Perform at John Jay College in New York City
Acclaimed Palestinian brothers Samir, Wissam, and Adnan Joubran are set to perform at Saturday, July 29 at Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College.…
Artist profiles: Haytham Safia
Haytham Safia, born in 1980, is an Arab-Israeli from Jerusalem. His passion for the Ud started at an early stage. In 2001 he made his…
Artist Profiles: Badavi Zubayr
Badavi Zubayr, who sings and plays the ud, represents the urban tradition of the Hadramawt Valley (Yemen). Badavi composes his own melodies as much as…
Artist Profiles: Mohamed Adlen Fergani
Mohamed Adlen Fergani was born on the 29th of April 1993 in the city of Constantine, Algeria. He belongs to the Fergani family where…
Artist Profiles: Rahim Alhaj
Rahim AlHaj, virtuoso ud musician and composer, was born in Baghdad, Iraq and began playing the ud at age nine. Early on, it was clear…
Artist Profiles: Natacha Atlas
Natacha Atlas was born in Belgium, the daughter of an Egyptian father and an English mother. Natacha grew up in the Moroccan suburbs of Brussels,…
Breaking the Ground a Little More
The very names of the CDs I’m reviewing here (some, anyway) indicate that they’re looking to go to places that haven’t yet been fully explored…