Aswan: New Album by the Nile Project جميله

[karem]

youtu.be/qKMYUfjqLbg

Beautiful 

[truthteacher2007]

Dec 18, 2013 11:10:48 GMT -5 karem said:

youtu.be/qKMYUfjqLbg

Beautiful 

I'm so glad that their project seems to be a success. I always thought that it would be a great idea to do a music project linking all the cultures of the Nile. For those who don't know who they are, here's a clip that explains it:

[karem]

Thanks for the link Truth. Using music is proving to be a positive way to build and improve relations, bring about awareness, and understanding. It would be great to see more ethical/grass roots cultural heritage projects similar to this popping up that are for and by, or in partnership with local people in Africa and the Middle East.

[anansi]

Dec 18, 2013 13:14:19 GMT -5 karem said:

Thanks for the link Truth. Using music is proving to be a positive way to build and improve relations, bring about awareness, and understanding. It would be great to see more ethical/grass roots cultural heritage projects similar to this popping up that are for and by, or in partnership with local people in Africa and the Middle East.

Did they do their show in NY already??..I wished I knew of this project before hand btw the she kinda remind me of Jill Scott..thanx for thread and the link you two..

[truthteacher2007]

Dec 18, 2013 14:14:59 GMT -5 anansi said:

Dec 18, 2013 13:14:19 GMT -5 karem said:

Thanks for the link Truth. Using music is proving to be a positive way to build and improve relations, bring about awareness, and understanding. It would be great to see more ethical/grass roots cultural heritage projects similar to this popping up that are for and by, or in partnership with local people in Africa and the Middle East.

Did they do their show in NY already??..I wished I knew of this project before hand btw the she kinda remind me of Jill Scott..thanx for thread and the link you two..

Yes. I just missed it. It was late November at Lincolin Center. They're supposed to do a Us and Europe tour in 2014. I'll have to keep checking.

[truthteacher2007]

Dec 18, 2013 13:14:19 GMT -5 karem said:

Thanks for the link Truth. Using music is proving to be a positive way to build and improve relations, bring about awareness, and understanding. It would be great to see more ethical/grass roots cultural heritage projects similar to this popping up that are for and by, or in partnership with local people in Africa and the Middle East.

I totally agree. When it comes to dance, I've always seen a connection between Egypt and Eastern and Central Africa, particularly Congo and Uganda. There's a dance from Uganda called Buganda. It looks very similar to a dance style I saw in Upper Egypt done by some traditional dancers called the Banat Mazin. Unfortunately they've all retired from performing. I was lucky to see the remaining sisters Khyriya and Raja when they were still dancing.

There is a lot in Egypt, but you have to know where to find it because it's not tied into the commercial tourist market, nor the commercial music industry. There's a group from the Port area called Al Tandoura who perform traditional semsemiya music. The Semsemiya is a small harp derived from a much larger version called a tanboura. Traditionally the tanboura was played during Zar cerimonies. The interesting thing about this instrument is that it is played all along the Red Sea coast of Africa, into Egypt and the western desert oasis in places like Bahariya. It's also played in the Sinai and as far north as the Negev and Jordan. It really is a bridge between Tropical Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. There use to be a great mini doc on it called The Sirene, but I can't find it now. However, there are plenty of clips of Al Tanboura:

There is also a grass roots performance venue in Midan Saad Zaghloo in Cairo called Al Makan. They have performances by Nubian, Saidi, Fellahi music, but the bigest draw is the Al Mazaher group who sing Zar songs. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdeoLJZXodg

[karem]

I definitely see the similar look to Jill Scott Anansi. Was pretty impressed to hear they played at the Lincoln Centre. Hopefully they do some shows in the UK too. Truth, that info is very useful and when I've got more time I'd be interested to look into more African and Middle Eastern music.

[truthteacher2007]

Dec 18, 2013 18:12:15 GMT -5 karem said:

I definitely see the similar look to Jill Scott Anansi. Was pretty impressed to hear they played at the Lincoln Centre. Hopefully they do some shows in the UK too. Truth, that info is very useful and when I've got more time I'd be interested to look into more African and Middle Eastern music.

No problem. I'll share as much as I know.

[zarahan]

Good info.

[truthteacher2007]

Been trying to find this mini doc for the longest time. It's about the semsimiya and related instruments in Egypt. It's quite ancient and is based on an older instrument the tanboura. Also there is shown another ancient harp instrument the gandou which is depicted in many tomb paintings.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo7ktVyvxl4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R00NejCGho0