Mohamed Medhat is the violinist and often composer of Egypt’s leading Rai band Sahra. Rai music, a product of north western Africa, derives from the Arabic ra’i, meaning opinion and Sahra’s music expresses the artists’ views on a range of social and political issues. Mohamed is a well-versed improviser and collaborator, who often works with Ousso. Read about Medhat in Alahram weekly
Lead guitarist of Egypt’s all-star musical outfit Nagham Masry, Ousso is a well-travelled musician who fuses together a deep understanding of Egyptian and Western popular music, spiced with oriental flavours. Considered as a wry young musician, who hates to define his work, Ousso and his bandmates insist they ‘sing for Egypt’, using poetry by great writers such as Salah Jahin and Ahmed Fouad Negm, rather than predictable lyrics about love and loss. Ousso is also behind the innovative SOS Music Festival in Cairo. Read about Ousso in Egypt today
Yacoub is amongst Jordan’s most exciting young musicians and has performed internationally with the Rum-Tareq Al Nasser Ensemble. His own current band Sign of Thyme speaks the language of the world in an Ammani accent with influences ranging from Muhammed Al Qasabji and Muhammed Abdul Wahab through to Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker. The group has performed to great acclaim at the Alfawanees Festival and the Amman Summer Festival.
Singer-songwriter Ruba Saqr’s work is infectious and has been recognised by winning the Global Battle of the Bands in Jordan, which also led to a UK appearance at the Astoria. She has considerable experience of working on international collaborative projections, having been involved in a French Cultural Centre project Konfusion and then participated in the Aab Days Conference in Berlin in September 2006. Ruba’s family is of Sufi origin and she has recently begun to introduce elements from the Sufi tradition into her music to mesmerising effect. When not working on her music, Ruba is a respected journalist in Amman.
Asma describes her life as a musical journey. Influenced by classic Arabic songs and music from the 1950’s and 1960’s, she now creates a sound that is far from being considered traditional Arabic or oriental music, but is a new kind of dub, mellow with an edge, and rooted in strong melody.
RGB sees himself as an Arabic hip hop artist, whose work is shaped by his life in Beirut. He is signed to the independent Lebanese record label Mooz and will be touring the Middle East later in 2007. Check his myspace page
Issam is a virtuosic oud player, who has been awarded such accolades as first prize in the Cairo Improvisation Competition in 2000. He is in demand both as a soloist and also in his position as Chair of the Arab Music Department at the High Institute of Music in Damascus and conductor of the Institute’s National Orchestra for Arab Music.
Moslem Rahhal is one of Syria’s leading ney and lute players, playing as soloist for the Syrian National Symphony for nine years, as well as for the Mediterranean Orchestra in Algeria, and touring internationally to Germany, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria with the National Group for Arabic music. Moslem studied at the High Institute for Music in Damascus until 2003, and has quickly made a name for himself as a versatile musician whose sound is rooted in tradition.
Hicham is a singer, film-maker, and all round musician. Initially a rock singer in the band Total Eclipse, formed in his University days, he has now progressed onto composing and performing music that melds together different cultural and musical influences from jazz, reggae, funk, and electronica, to more traditional Moroccan vocal styles such as Aita, gnawa, berber and desert music (Hicham plays traditional instruments the Guembri and percussion) In 2006 he was a contributor on the Dayzine album and has collaborated with artists from countries such as Belgium, France, Mexico and Poland. Currently, he works in collaboration with DJ Zayane Freeman making electronic music in Morocco, and is in the process of developing his own documentary about the rise of actual? music in Morocco.
Bigg is seen as the hottest rapper in Morocco right now. He raps in Arabic and English and composes his own beats. He released his first album in 2006, to great acclaim in his country, and is developing his second album for release later this year. He is currently working on a tour of the Middle East for 2007. Check Bigg's myspace profile
Composer and electronics Skander Besbes is one of Tunisia’s most versatile talents with a distinctive style all of his own. His group Skin Like Cream has made waves across the music scene there with its genre-defying beats.
Percussionist Lotfi Soua is a very versatile player who is already establishing a reputation on the international scene. He has performed with Amine Et Hamza I’mraihi in Marseilles, Paris, Oxerre and Copenhagen. His influences are diverse and include working with the Indian percussionist Rashmi Bhat and with Turkish percussionist Izzet Kizil.
Pianist, composer and arranger Andrew McCormack has made a real name for himself on London’s jazz scene working alongside leading musicians such as Randy Brecker, Courtney Pine and Julia Roberts. His musical career to date has been a distinguished one ever since he received a scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Most recently he was named Rising Star 2006 at the BBC Jazz Awards, in a year which also saw the launch of his own album Telescope.
Drummer Leo Taylor covers a wide spectrum of the UK's contemporary music scene working with artists and groups as varied as 2 Banks of 4, Bembe Segue, Matthew Herbert, Nitin Sawhney, Jade Fox and Robert Mitchell's Panacea. His versatility was seen when he worked with electronics master Matthew Herbert on his environmentally friendly Plat Du Jour project - Leo's drum kit was made from organic free range eggs and egg boxes, played with chopsticks. Meanwhile, his jazz credentials are just as impressive and he is an integral part of the F-ire collective.
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