The fluidity of music across borders is not new to cultures. Long before visas and travel permits were a requirement for crossing borders, music was as a matter of course exchanged between traders alongside goods. Nowadays, musicians with different cultural influences find it hard to find the time and space to discuss musical inspirations and participate in meetings where techniques and experiences are shared.
Al Mawred Al Thaqafi has in the last few years organized an annual gathering for artists titled “Remix; a music platform bringing neighboring musicians together for a workshop followed by a series of performances showcasing its outcome.
The results of this year’s platform, dubbed Remix Asia, kicked off at Al-Azhar Park’s Geneina Theater last Monday, and continued on Tuesday, after a five-day workshop held in Alexandria.
The shows hosted 16 artists representing nine different countries from across the Arab world and central Asia. Each artist came to the workshop with an original piece that was refashioned throughout the duration of the workshop. The result was around 25 full-blooded songs that transported listeners back in time, sporadically fusing modern tunes.
Under the supervision of Khaled Mohamed Ali from Iraq, Lebanon’s Charbel Rouhaba and mugham player Alim Qasimov from Azerbaijan, the participating musicians will be performing tonight in Damascus, Syria, with another performance scheduled for Oct. 18 in Aleppo.
“It’s a great idea and a very important one. I hope that it continues amid the loss of such music in television programs, said Rouhaba. “The workshop is like going into the kitchen, having a main idea or song and adding to it input from everyone involved.
At Geneina, the set featured compositions of the participating artists fused with the fallout of the workshop, bringing multi-cultural vibrations to the open-air theater’s closing season. Although Monday’s show attracted an audience twice as big as Tuesday’s, to this reviewer, the end result of both evenings was a commendable recapitulation of an often sidelined music genre.
Monday evening kicked off with “Saba’a (Seven), a composition by oud player Ahmed Barakat from Jordan. The accompanying ensemble included musicians on the qanoun, violin, ney and percussions.
The mellow take-off of the piece, coupled with fierce saxophone infusion, eased the audience into the framework of the rest of the evening; a captivating blend of musical cultures.
Next was a Syrian upbeat number titled “Ghazal, featuring its composer on the ney accompanied by the percussion squad. Another Syrian composition by Kinan Ednawi injected the atmosphere with a somber, more serious tone. Percussions were brought down to deep single beats, making room for a brass show off as Ednawi led a solo on his oud.
Among the brass lineup were the tar and the kamancha, performed by artists from Azerbaijan. Originating from Persia, the tar is a long-necked, waisted instrument similar in composition to a classic guitar. The kamancha is a bowed string instrument, also from Persia, similar to rababa from Upper Egypt.
The second part of Monday’s show saw Rouhana and Qasimov take center stage with globally renowned numbers.
Charbel’s “Manara featured a kamancha solo by Rauf Islamov followed by Ali Asgar Mammdov on the tar. “It was a beautiful adventure, Rouhana told Daily News Egypt.
“Wedding was a joyous number, flaunting zaffa-like segments (music from traditional Arabic wedding procession) that got the audience swaying in their seats. This segment was rounded up with a youthful number entitled “Bil ‘Arabi, shedding light on the post-colonial fear of losing the Arabic language and culture to French influences.
Meanwhile, Qasimov’s mugham, a genre that relies heavily on a spiritual connection and improvisation, remained somewhat alien to the audience. While some were able to rise in celebration of a higher force, the greater part was stunned by the powerful vocals but failed to form a close connection with the religious poetry.
Tuesday’s show maintained a quiet, solemn state with numbers featuring the works of renowned Iraqi oud player Khaled Mohamed Ali.
One performance that garnered the loudest cheers was Abbas Kasimov’s solo on the doira, an instrument similar in form to the traditional dof.
Between sitting down and standing up, using his fingers, palms and sometime elbows, Kasimov hit the doira in quick beats. At first, he was focusing his attention on just one, then he picked up another doira, swirled it and flipped it in the air. Sitting down, he squeezed two between his legs and held a third one against his chin, pounding till no end.
The warmth of the artists’ performances underscores the casual ambience of the entire show, making for a pleasant, easy evening of oriental music and project proven well on its way.
