Mike's Oud Forums

My Arabic Band, "Bayat" Performing in Berkeley, CA - Feb 25, 2017

John Erlich - 2-10-2017 at 01:37 PM

Hi All,

My Arabic band, Bayat, will be performing Saturday night, 9PM, February 25, 2017, in Berkeley, CA at Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center.

I am honored to work with such fabulous musicians. The leader is Syrian-born & -trained violinist Fathi al-Jarrah. I am the token non-M.E./N.A.-born member, so this is the REAL DEAL, folks!

We will be performing a program of traditional Syrian music, mouwwashahat and Quddud Halabiya. This will be a fundraiser for Syrian refugee aid.

Here is the Facebook page for the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/586044601581168/

For you non-FB folks, here is the Event Brite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-road-to-aleppo-benefit-for-syrian-c...

Here is the web page of the venue: http://www.ashkenaz.com/

I know the tickets are a little pricey, but this is a charity fundraiser, and the music will be wonderful.

Peace out,
"Udi" John

John Erlich - 2-10-2017 at 01:40 PM

Flyer 1:

The Road to Aleppo Flyer 1.jpg - 99kB

John Erlich - 2-10-2017 at 01:41 PM

Flyer 2:

The Road to Aleppo Flyer 2.jpg - 82kB

aminas02 - 2-27-2017 at 12:42 PM

Come to LA!:)

John Erlich - 2-27-2017 at 09:38 PM

Quote: Originally posted by aminas02  
Come to LA!:)


One of my old bands from the Bay Area gigged 3x in LA. It was so much fun, that I would LOVE to do that with this band. But, all of the Middle Eastern/North African communities are larger in LA than in the SF Bay Area. Don't you already have more Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Armenian, Israeli, etc. musicians and bands than we do?

John Erlich - 3-2-2017 at 10:56 PM

You can hear a full band clip from a rehearsal and some live trio samples and discussion of the music and event from a local radio program appearance: https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=254234 Skip to 18:20 for our part of the program.

Giorgioud - 3-10-2017 at 09:54 AM

Very good John! Great ensemble you've got there. Great informative interview too. Hope the gig went well!

John Erlich - 3-11-2017 at 10:47 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Giorgioud  
Very good John! Great ensemble you've got there. Great informative interview too. Hope the gig went well!

Thanks! It was amazing. My wife, 12-yr-old son, wife's best friend/son's godmother, my son's godfather, and my mother were all in attendance, and were very impressed. I am looking forward to working with this group in the future; it was a very culturally "immersive" experience for me, working with an ensemble of musicians who, other than me, were all born and raised in the Middle East and North Africa. No set list!