Otbokh-ing Music
Yesterday we went to what was one of the best musical performances I have ever been to in my life; Music Matbakh (which means music kitchen in Arabic), a performance featuring musicians from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and the UK. The lineup combined traditional and cutting-edge, bringing together ancient Arabic traditions with hip hop and electronica. They were playing the oud and the nai, mawaweel and Bedouin accents, with drummers and electronica masters, rappers and MCs.
I haven’t enjoyed myself so much in so long.
The musicale ensemble included:
Mohamed Medhat on the violin from Egypt: he probably performed my favorite bits. I really love the violin, it is the only instrument that affects my senses, and he is an absolutely wonderful player.
Ousso on the guitar, also from Egypt: the first thing I heard today was an excited Y saying that Ousso was the best guitarist she has ever heard live in her life. I agree.
Yacoub Abu Ghosh on the bass guitar from Jordan: as I was watching Yacoub play, I was remembering the first time I saw Sign of Thyme play live. I fell in love with their Ammanite-flavored music then, and over the past 3 years, I have tried to attend as much of their concerts as possible.
Ruba Saqr, vocals, from Jordan: I have never listened to anything by Ruba Saqr before, and I was quite impressed by her singing. She really does have a beautiful voice, though she needs to work on her stage presence. Ruba performed in some of my favorite pieces, and her Sadaqa piece was absolutely gorgeous.
Asma, vocals, from Lebanon
RGB, vocals, from Lebanon: Arabic rap is at its peak these years. In the past several months, I have been to many Arabic rap performances, and I daresay that RGB was the best one out of the lot of Arabic rappers, even better than DAM.
Essam Rafea on the oud, from Syria
Moslem Rahhal on the nay, from Syria
Hicham Bajjou, vocals, from Morocco: Hicham was my favorite performer in Music Matbakh; his energy, his eclecticism, and his charisma on stage were absolutely brilliant.
Skander Besbes on electronics, from Tunisia.
Lotfi Soua on percussion, from Tunisia.
Andrew McCormack on keyboards, from the UK.
Leo Taylor on drums, from the UK.
My favorite pieces were Tahmil, featuring brilliant solos by some of the musicians, Sadaqa, and Highway.
I’d definitely recommend that you go check the Music Matbakh out if you can, here’s their schedule for the next few weeks:
|
Azem Palace, Damascus, Syria | Damascus | ||
|
SOS Music Festival, Marina, North Coast, Egypt | Alexandria | ||
|
Tabarka World Music Festival, Basilica, Tunisia | Tunis |
Does anyone know if there will be a cd available? That’s definitely a cd I want to own.
kinzi
July 23, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
Had to miss this one, as I will miss Zaid Dirani tomorrow night. Please do note where CDs can be purchased!
Thanks Roba (and Khoubbeizeh!)
friend
July 23, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
I thought you spent the night reading harry potter LOL
mohammad
July 23, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
Hey Roba, it was so good to see you there :)
I actually asked Ruba Saqr about the CD, she said that the British Council still thinking about producing it, but how soon? she has no idea!
hey… my link is not correct :(
houeida
July 23, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
Won’t miss them in Tabarka World Festival :)
Citizen N
July 23, 2007 @ 3:12 pm
Ya allah :( how come I missed it? I didnt hear anyone talkin about it..no ads in the newspaper either..
It looks really nice though..
Yellah next time maybe..
Bino
July 23, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhhhh
Why do all sort of music events happen when i’m out of Jordan ???!!
Citizen N if you’re on Facebook join the OrangeRed events group and you’ll always get notices of such events … i’m a member there o kol ma ye3leno 3an shi ban2eheeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Wasim
July 24, 2007 @ 10:23 am
Missed this one, I was tired yesterday and had to go home early. I will not miss Zaid’s performance today inshallah (gates are open 07:30 PM tickets are 10,15 and 20)
tsedek
July 24, 2007 @ 9:31 pm
Owwwww, this is really very cool!
Love the music….
Um Zayd
July 25, 2007 @ 12:50 am
Very cool music. I hope I will get a chance to be at one of the concerts or at least get the CD.
By the way, the Tabarka festival takes place in Tabarka and not Tunis. Tabarka is 3 hours drive to the west, very near the Algerian borders.
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