ALAMI - 10-7-2007 at 02:19 PM
It was a lucky month in Beirut, 3 great oud concerts (and only one bomb attack).
We were lucky to have in few weeks Anouar Brahem, Naseer Shamma and Ziad Ahmadieh in concert.
Anouar Brahem played Le Voyage de Sahar on the stage of the Music Hall along with François Couturier on piano and the amazing Jean-Louis Matinier on
accordion. The Music Hall is a place in the tradition of the old school french cabaret where people sit in red couches and can smoke and drink while
listening to music, Anouar forced them to change the place into a regular concert hall, or should I say a prayer place ? The concert was more of a
calm travel on Brahem's planet, it is like floating on the surface of a river, he is a very reserved guy and does not communicate with the audience,
but his music does and does it well.
My only regret: I'd like to go to those places on his planet where he's not taking us, the fertile deserts of Maqams, I am sure it would be an amazing
place. Is it him or ECM who are insisting on a Western-ear-compatible-world-music. It is good to be on the Jazz shelves at Virgin, but is it good to
be confined there ?
His oud sounds deeply beautiful and has an amazing rosette, it looks brand new, any idea of the maker?
Naseer is a completly different kind of artist, he was playing in the Babel, a new theater founded in Beirut by Iraqi writer-director Jawad Al
Asadi.
Naseer talked a lot with the audience, he started with a long Rast taksim then with an piece dedicated to Lorca and to all poets killed by
dictators.
He remembered Munir Bashir who stayed many years in Beirut, and like him, he was complaining that the humidity is making his oud go out of tune.
He kept calling the spirits of the ancients and played an amazing "<b>rooster</b>tail" of Feyrouz songs composed by the great Philemon
Wehbeh.
As a surprise he wanted to present to the lebanese audience a young lebanese graduate of Beit El Oud, they played together Shourouk and an amazing 2
ouds version of Bashir's Flying Bird. He ended the concert with a piece on fire called Horse Dance.
He was called back by the audience to play Al Amiriyah, He said that he wanted to spare Beirut this piece, the audience insisted, he played with all
his soul.
Baghdad and Beirut where there listening, those cities who know a lot about joy and pain and how to live both...in one moment. The guy, his oud, the
audience, all feeling together each and every note and the pain that's behind, everyone living in his head his own Amiriyah...in arabic there is only
one word to describe this moment: Tarab.
Which concert I prefer? it is a tough and useless question, I'd go again to both without hesitation.But to be honest I play Anouar Brahem's CDs a lot
more than Naseer's, and to be even more honest "Ard Al Sawad" is the only Naseer CD that I really like to hear.
Yeah I know I was long, It's not really a thread, I just wanted to share with you my impressions, pretending to play the role of the forum's oud
reporter from Beirut.
Peace to all
alami
jazzchiss - 10-8-2007 at 01:22 AM
Great report, Alami.
I'm a bit surprise you listen more often to Brahem than Shamma CD's. I find Brahem a bit ambient, good for hear not for listen to. Shamma really
captures me, I don't have 'Ard Al Sawad' but 'Meditation' is one of my favourites.
journeyman - 10-8-2007 at 10:11 AM
Was Anouar's performance as subdued as his recent recordings? He is one of my favorite musicians by the way.
Roy
zalzal - 10-8-2007 at 11:51 AM
Thankyou.
I recently read that Nasser Shamma was going to found a Beit el oud at Alger together with the Ministery of Culture or education.
I read this in a press release reporting his concert at Constantine where he also gave some courses and made play his student
at his concert. If i remember well the press release talked about some pieces of traditional local Maalouf being played by Nasser Shamma.
Therefore looks like Nasser Shamma
1/ Gets interested in other's people traditions, songs and repertoire.
2/ Wants to expand Buyuts el A3wad evrywhere. May be he is going to open one in Beyrouth??
3/ He appeals Bashir in his concerts, and seems to continue the job started by Bashir, carrying on the oud culture worldwide.
Alami you forgot reporting on Ziad Ahmadie's concert.
ALAMI - 10-8-2007 at 02:13 PM
Yeah zalzal, I forgot to talk about Ziad Ahmadieh concert ! The problem is that Ziad is my friend and It is very difficult to talk about a friend.
Ziad has been composing a lot of songs lately, his way of expressing his views and to resist and survive the tense times we're living, one of them is
a tribute to the people that are just a number in a breaking news, the "collateral damage", very touching. His concert was a mix of music and songs,
he was on oud (playing his Ghadban) acompannied by piano, bass, rikk and Claude Chalhoub on violin (the soliste of the national philharmonic), they
played an impressive oud-violin taksim, a crazy longa ajam and an amusing tango Yagah. I hope that he will focus on this kind of oud-violin
compositions that I prefer to songs and to experimental fusion.
Concerning the risky terrain of Brahem - Shamma, I will only ask some (not really innocent) questions:
- Naseer is one of the greatest oudists ever, we will all agree on this, is he as good as composer?
- If Brahem's music is "suitable" for ambiance, does it mean it is ambient music? Am I the only one who's still feel the soufi whisper in his music
?
- Aren't we all oud-biased when judging: Naseer is "one of us", he teaches oud and is efficiently promoting oud, (It would be great to have Bayt Al
oud in many countries.) Anouar is a bit of a traitor (musically speaking).
A boy came to a sufi master and asked him to become his teacher, the master lit a candle and asked the boy to tell him where the light comes from, the
boy blew the candle off and said :"I'll tell you if you tell me where it went".
Many great musicians are a source of light and I love them but I still prefer those who let my imagination wonder where it goes.
For me Bashir is still the greatest
SamirCanada - 10-8-2007 at 07:47 PM
When I saw Naseer here in Montreal. It was the same...
he was very involved with the crowd. He played peices of the Hilal Cd since he was here with the whole oyoun taqht. In between each peice he talked
for about 5 minutes or so to get people in the mood of each peice.
Alami: I would rather listen to his compositions then improvisations personaly. The Hilal Cd is definately awsome. Perhaps its because his oud can
sound somewhat redondant but when you bring in the other instruments of the taqht and the nice arangements its a superb work.
journeyman - 10-9-2007 at 09:46 AM
I have all of Anouar Brahem's CDs except one, and am haunted by his sound. I know a lot of people criticize him because he doesn't play traditional
music, but I think he has an incredible depth that is rare in any performer. As far as quarter tones go, the piano is fixed pitch and might not work
with the oud playing quarter tones. Same with the accordion. I do find Le Voyage de Sahar a bit sleepy and was wondering if his live performance of
this music had that same quality, or was it more energetic. I know he can really rip it up as is evidenced by his first couple of recordings for ECM.
He is definitely one of my favorite musicians and I hope to see him perform someday.
Roy