mavrothis - 1-23-2004 at 08:10 PM
Hello guys. I have a question or two for our friends who are living in Europe. It seems to me that exposure to the oud is much more common in Europe
than here in the States. I wonder about that, since here we also have large populations of people from the Middle East, but not so much exposure to
our cultures.
Do you agree that it is more common to hear oud in Europe, and if so, why? Is it proximity to the Middle East, politics, a general difference in
taste, or all of these?
Also, is the oud most commonly heard in its traditional musical environment, or mostly in fusion bands?
I'd love to hear from you guys.
Take care,
mav 
oud in Europe
Adel - 1-25-2004 at 03:09 AM
Dear mav,
I can say the oud is doing very well in Europe espicially in France.
In france you have good players+GOOD OUDS;
tHE OUD IS PART OF TEH FRENCH CULTURE NOW ADAYS
You can find it in all kind of music.... pop, jazz, traditional, classical...etc
All Arab musicians have to go through Paris..... it's as important as cairo, Also many festivals and record company 's promoting Arab music
and the oud.....
also the oud players who are living here are very open minded that they helped establishing this instrument here....
Salamat,
Adel
Oud in Europe
David Parfitt - 1-25-2004 at 04:24 AM
Dear Adel
That is very good news about the oud in France. Do you have any more information about specific players (apart from yourself!), and whether they have
their own websites with concert dates etc.?
I only know Hussein el-Masry, who is based in Montpellier. I understand that Marc Loopuyt is based somewhere in France, but I have not found any
information about his current activities. Can you help?
I am not sure that the situation in the UK is as good as France. The most well-known oud player seems to be Ahmed Mukhtar (in London), but I heard
that there is another oudist based in London who performs with Natasha Atlas. Then there is Russell Harris down here in Devon of course! Do you know
of any more players in the UK?
Look forward to hearing from you.
All the best
David
Zulkarnain - 1-25-2004 at 06:32 AM
Hi David
My last visit to UK (December 2003) I went to see Mr Mukhtar for some Oud lessons. He did mentioned about this guy 'Qadri Al Dalal'. Is he
in France now?
Regards
mavrothis - 1-25-2004 at 08:36 AM
Thanks for replying guys. I've noticed exactly what you've been talking about Adel in many albums, in which it seems the musicians are
usually based in France or nearby countries.
I've also noticed that musicians here in the US of foreign descent, whether they are Arab, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, etc, are almost always
content to cover songs and copy music/styles from their home countries and abroad than create their own.
I'm wondering if this is b/c we in general feel more like foreigners here, and we feel that we have to copy what's coming from our
homeland(s) to keep our identities intact.
Do you think this makes sense, or is it something else in your opinion(s)?
Take care,
mavrothis
oud in Europe
Adel - 1-25-2004 at 03:36 PM
Dear david,
I think you do have more oud players in the UK.
Ahmmad Abdel Rahman lives in Oxford I beleive, also you talked about Keith Clouston, whom he studied with me and worked for many years with Natasha
Atlas.
Oud players in France, we have many of them, Marceel Khalifa is here, Fawzy Sayeb, Alla which is a great Algerian player and many others who are
working with other groups.
I am not sure if they have their own websites though.
Marc lives in lyon.
Best wishes,
Adel
oud in Europe
Adel - 1-25-2004 at 03:51 PM
Dear Mav, I hear what you are saying.It depend on the musicain and what he or she wants to do with the music.
We have many musicains who are doing exactly this, I.e play what we learned at school or university and play the traditional music.....which is
nothing wrong with this.
On the other hand some musicains prefare to work and do their own projects, which is what I do and many of my friends oud players do, I do like this
because it's creative,and I do love working with other musicians.
in fact I learnt this from Abdel Wahab, he introduced many elements of western classical music and jazz to his music, and the end result was very
rich.
We are living in a World that we have to communicate and learn from each other.
Take care,
Adel
mavrothis - 1-25-2004 at 07:40 PM
Thanks for taking the time to respond Adel, I really enjoy all the different sounds and arrangements coming out of Europe and the Middle East.
Take care,
mavrothis