Head bowed and eyes closed in concentration, Hazem Shaheen – front-man of the highly popular folk group Eskenderllah – carried a look of humble preoccupation as he strummed his oud (oriental lute) at the Geneina Theater on Friday.
Many of the numbers played that evening were culled from his debut solo album “Hagat Wahshany (Things That I Miss).
Geneina Theater almost always commands full attention, as sounds from the stage rise upwards to greet the stillness of the audience and the night. The magic woven by the Joubran trio playing oud at the same venue less than a year ago still lingers in the air.
Music reached one’s ear only to attune it to a deeper silence. Recalling the Joubran brothers, it is not easy to forgive the manifold slips in Shaheen’s performance, especially as most have turned up thinking it will be a stellar one.
While much of his oud-playing built itself successfully on the repetition and elaboration of a set of notes plucked at the start, there were moments where Shaheen’s lute-strumming seemed to stray, pulled away by other notes, robbing the music of its unity.
Unlike deliberate pauses that contribute profoundly to the enjoyment of listening to the oud, Shaheen numbers were sometimes jarred and confusing. When the audiences clapped after a certain piece, the musician in fact had still not finished.
An apologetic Shaheen told Daily News Egypt that he was not in his element. Percussionist Hany Bdeir and Miles Jay on contrabass, who had collaborated with him on his first solo album, were absent from the venue. While Shaheen enjoyed the chance to play solo again, he would have much preferred to play songs from the album with the accompanists.
The collection on “The Things I Miss album, Shaheen said, is all about memories. The album itself is titled after Bahaa Jaheen’s poem “Mafeesh hagat wahshany (There is Nothing I Miss). Many of his compositions, such as “Hagat Wahshany and “Mushqila (Problem), are inspired by the words of the late celebrated Egyptian poet Amin Haddad of the same name. The song “Hussan Darwish is a tribute to great folk composer Sayed Darwish whose company he longs for dearly.
Unable to perform the entirety of his latest work, Shaheen instead delivered numbers from his previous album entitled “El-Aysh wel melh (Bread and Salt) made in 2006 with the group Masar.
Shaheen’s band, Eskendrella, is known for their inventive covers of Darwish and Sheikh Imam’s compositions, as well as their songs. A graduate of the High Institute for Arabic Music, Shaheen carries many laurels including the award for The Best Oud Player in the Arab World given him at the 2002 International Oud Competition in Beirut.
Online samples of the album’s repertoire provide a more satisfying listen than the one delivered at Geneina. Yet, the Geneina night is only a slip that reminds you that even the greatest player needs back-up. Rather than inviting silent contemplation, the night seemed a disharmonious one, ending abruptly at 10 pm only one hour after the performance began.
Fans nevertheless gathered around the singer to congratulate him on the album that was unfortunately also not available for sale. As Shaheen put it himself when asked about his own performance that night, “There were some things missing.
For more information on the artist, please visit http://www.myspace.com/hazemshaheen. Samples from the album “Things That I Miss are available at http://www.incognito.com.lb/store/node/614.
