ENSEMBLES
BAEOA
MIDDLE EASTERN ROCK
Baeoa is a cultural movement that uses art and music for social change. The music group was the brainchild of international artists from the Middle East, Egypt, Serbia, and Chicago. Baeoa has a genre-defying sound blending rock, jazz, and classical Middle Eastern music with Arabic and English poetry.
EMME
EAST MEETS MIDDLE EAST
What happens when Indian sarod and tabla meet Middle Eastern oud and darbuka? East Meets Middle East.
East Meets Middle East is a musical collective across continents celebrating the rich traditions of the Middle East and South Asia. From India, Subrata Bhattacharya (tabla) and Abhisek Lahiri (sarod) collaborate with Ronnie Malley (Oud) and George Lawler (percussion) to create a cross-cultural palette of improvisations and original compositions. The group transcends boundaries as they move through raga and maqam, tala and iqa, the music theories and rhythms found in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
New CD released September 2016.
Lamajamal
MIDDLE EASTERN, BALKAN, TURKISH & GREEK MUSIC
Lamajamal's music combines Middle Eastern and Balkan traditions with luscious, dubbed-out production and a rock band's sensibilities. Capable of dreamy, pensive soundscapes or raucous, jovial, party music, Lamajamal can take the listener all over the world, or just to the dance floor. Like their name, a palindrome derived from the Arabic word for beauty, these five creative musicians take the music of our global ancestors and turn it inside out creating something fresh and innovative yet true to its roots.
“… Lamajamal is a band without borders.”
“So, here’s my thumbs-up to Lamajamal for creating a fun and accessible musical experience that offers the full range of expression from silly to sophisticated. Some of the tight harmonies and culturally-mixed lines and phrases stopped me cold as I found myself transported to who-knows-where. The skill and confidence it takes to be that relaxed playing complex material can only be achieved through much hard effort. What ensemble work!”
Ronnie Malley and Las Guitarras de España present "The Roots of Flamenco: Andaluz and Arabic music and dance
Join world musician Ronnie Malley with Las Guitarras de España for an evening of Arabo-Andalusian and Flamenco music. The collaboration explores music from the shared cultural history of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain.
SURABHI
ORIGINAL INDO-AFRO-ARAB-FLAMENCO MUSIC & DANCE
Founded by Veena artiste Saraswathi Ranganathan, the group has been performing for the past 8 years, delighting audiences with lush rustic soundscapes of flamenco music and Afro rhythms woven into the rich sounds of Indian Classical ragas, Turkish Maqams, embellished with blues and folk melodies. Performances often include both music and dance from the Indian, African, Spanish flamenco traditions. Surabhi Ensemble features an outstanding line-up from Chicago’s music / theater scene.
