Album: Abu Nawas Rhapsody
Artist: Dhafer Youssef
Country: Tunisia

Dhafer Youssef (born 1967 in Teboulba, Tunisia) is a composer, vocalist, and oud player. He has been living and working in various European countries since 1990. During this time he had the opportunity to perform his music on stages in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and other countries as well as his native Tunisia (where he started singing in the Islamic tradition  at age 5 ).

Dhafer Youssef’s music is rooted in the Sufi tradition and other mystical music but has always been wide open to ideas from any other musical culture as well as the jazz scene. With his poetic approach on the oud (the Arabic lute), his complex Arab-colored compositions and especially his deeply affecting singing when humming along with his melodies, Dhafer Youssef is one of the most impressive voices to emerge in this musical field in many years. Testifying a wide range of sound colors, stylistic facets and musical ingredients, Dhafer Youssef opens the way to a new definition of East-Western crossover.

http://www.dhaferyoussef.com/

Track List:

01 -  Sacré (04:55)
02 -  Les Ondes Orientales (09:10)
03 -  Khamsa (07:39)
04 -  Interl’Oud (01:44)
05 -  Odd Elegy (04:54)
06 -  In The Name Of Love (04:08)
07 -  Shaouk (02:08)
08 -  Shatha (05:23)
09 -  Mudamatan (04:52)
10 -  Sabaa (Hayastan Dance) (05:01)
11 -  Sura (06:07)
12 -  Profane (04:40)

Duration: 60:39 | Bitrate: 320 kBit/s | Year: 2010 | Size: 140 mb

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Dhafer Albums on Suraj :
Dhafer youssef – 2008 – Live at Cully Jazz Festival 2008 ظافر يوسف – مهرجان الجاز في مدينة كولي في سويسرا
Dhafer Youssef – 2003 – Digital Prophecy
Dhafer Youssef – 2001 – Electric Sufi

Tags: Abu Nawas, Dhafer, Instrumental, oud, Rhapsody, Sufi, Suraj, Tunisia, أبو نواس, أبو نواس رابسودي, سراج, سراج على سراج, ظافر, ظافر يوسف, يوسف

Bassem Rizk was born on April 10, 1979 in Achrafieh, Beirut (Lebanon). The capital was then ravaged by war, and resulted in the forced relocation of his family to Amchit near Byblos, cradle of the Phoenician civilization and the alphabet. Surrounded by a family of artists and largely inspired by the musical passion of his father, who also played this string musical instrument, Bassem was initiated to the rudiments of the oud (Arabic lute), at a very young age. At five-year old, Bassem drew media attention thanks to his exceptional talent and virtuosity playing on the oud, keyboard, and the tabla (percussion instrument).

Viewed as a true musical phenomenon, he was broadcasted on all the regional radio stations. At the age of fifteen, driven by his curiosity to learn more about the oud, he was introduced to the method of the “School of Iraq” tutored by the famous musician Munir Bashir. This great master of music awakened Bassem’s passion to take on in-depth studies in order to fully understand the complexity of the oud, whose origins date back more than 4000 years. During his studies, he returned to the roots of the fundamentals of the oud and studied different works and essays of school famous luminaries, Al-Sharif Mohiedine Haydar, Shouker Selman, and Jamil Munir Bachir.
After his own personal experimentation on the oud, he again attracted the attention of music critics with his performances of “maqam”, a style that demonstrates a great mastery of counterpoint and musical discourse. At the age of twenty, he enrolled at the National Conservatory in Beirut.
Throughout his journey, Bassem deepened his musical culture appreciation through his studies of theories of eastern music. He participated and won the 3rd prize at the prestigious international competition of the Arab League in cooperation with the University of the Holy Spirit at Kaslik – USEK, Lebanon.
Bassem is tenacious in contributing assiduously to the development of different approaches related to the musical oud. Driven by his love for music and this noble instrument, Bassem aims to provide a new tone -, a young, updated and modern musical approach accessible to all.
Through his musical research he has envisioned and developed ways that enable him to break the “wall” between East and West. He has drawn the attention of various directors in the theaters and movies industries for whom he has composed original music to underpin their respective works.

In 2004, he released his first CD entitled “Echoes From A Past” upon containing all exclusively original compositions bear his signature. In 2005, Bassem completed the development of a new oud method, which began to be taught at the EDMGY, (The Ghassan Yammine school of music) in Lebanon.
Bassem currently performs on prestigious musical stages in Lebanon and various European countries. Considered by many critics to the new hope of classical Arabic music, Bassem Rizk is currently one of the pillars of his generation regarding for his knowledge and mastery of the oud.

http://www.bassemrizk.com/

Track List:

1 -  To My Father (إلى أبي (05:21
2 -  Hanine (حنين (04:36
3 -  Catoons (صور متحركة (01:50
4 -  Hijaz Kar (حجاز كار (08:06
5 -  Echoes From A Past (صدى من ماض (02:06
6 -  Organza (أورغانزا (04:31
7 -  Hamasat (Whispers) (همسات (04:40
8 -  Story Of Roses (حكاية ورد (02:49
9 -  Virtuose (فيرتويوز (03:59

Duration : 33:58 | Bitarte : 192 kBit/s | Year : 2004 | Size : 59 mb

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Tags: Bassem Rizk, Instrumental, Lebanon, oud, باسم رزق, سراج, سراج على سراج, عود, لبنان

Mohsen Subhi (Arabic: محسن صبحي‎, also, Mohsen Subhi Khalil AbdelHamid Ataya) (October 4, 1963–August 2, 2009) was a Palestinian composer of classical Arabic music and arranger of modern Palestinian music and folk song.

A master oud player and percussionist, Subhi was born in Ramallah, Palestine on October 4, 1963, where he established himself as a young musician, composer, performer and teacher. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1997 and continued living and working in Palestine, the United States (Boston and San Francisco) and Jordan.

Mohsen composed, arranged, (re)interpreted and performed music for television, plays, films and live audiences. After receiving a grant to record his second classical Arabic music (instrumental) CD, Mohsen Subhi (also known as Abu Kinaan) died as a result of an unfortunate accident on August 2, 2009 in Ramallah. He was buried in Al-Bireh.

In 2006, the Lebanon based independent record label Incognito^. released Mohsen Subhi’s instrumental, Mawasem [Seasons], the first compilation of his renowned composition of oud pieces, accompanied by bass, cello and piano (featuring Antoine Lammam – percussions).

In Mawasem, Subhi starts in maqam, in a circle widening with revelation, proceeding to a point where, necessarily, commentary falls short. And then there is the passage… He proceeds with working the maqam, confounding it, subtly morphing its identity into hybrid, genuine forms, loading every sound with the pangs of yet unborn maqams… Breaks are not expected in the moments and the spaces they span. Breaks are expected in their reflections. The ‘oud trembles, groans, lurches, longs… The ‘oud listens to its echo. The echo of the ‘oud infuses the horizon of the rhythm as homogenous column. And in the end, the maqam settles on the inevitability of its absence.

Mohsen Subhi has a very personal way of playing the oud, due to his previous experience as a percussionist and his subtle assimilation of Indian, African and Mediterranean influences. The album has received popular and critical acclaim in Lebanon: It is difficult not to fall helplessly in love with Mohsen Subhi’s bewitching album Mawasem. Subhi’s masterful oud playing is akin to a mystical art, making this CD breathtaking listening. (Rabih Z, Time Out Beirut, June 2006)

TrackList:

1 – ‘Al Bal (عالبال   (05:43
2 – Nafetha (To A Friend)  (نافدة   (05:28
3 – ‘Oubour (عبور (02:17
4 – Ta’ammol (تأمل (05:34
5 – Hewar (حوار (09:42
6 – Irtijal (ارتجال (02:45
7 – Takassim (تقاسيم (05:24
8 – Bila Enwan (بلا عنوان (06:32
9 – Zikrayat (ذكريات (02:53

Duration: 46:12 | Bitrate: 192 kBit/s | Year: 2006 | Size: 66 mb

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Tags: Instrumental, Mohsen Subhi, oud, سراج, سراج على سراج, عود, محسن صبحي

Ahmad Al-Khatib is a rising star as an Oud soloist, specialising in the modern Iraqi school of Oud performance. Ahmad was born in Jordan to Palestinian refugee parents. He started to play Oud at an early age, and later studied music and cello playing at Al-Yarmouk University in Jordan where he graduated with honors in 1997. In 1998, Ahmad came back to his homeland, Palestine. He was instrumental in developing the Oriental music Department at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM), later heading it until August 2002, when he was forced to leave Palestine. Ahmad continues to work for the ESNCM, liaising between Palestine and other music conservatories in the Arab world. At present he lives in Sweden, where he is performing recitals and undertaking a Masters in  Ethnomusicology at the University of Gothenburg. Ahmad released his first solo CD, Sada, in 2004.

TrackList:

01 – Furatayn (From Jerusalem to Bafhdad) (05:12)
فراتين
02 – Hikaya Sharqiyya (Oriental Tale) (12:45)
حكاية شرقية
03 – Sada (Echo) (05:29)
صدى
04 – Al-Nil Al-Abyad (The White Nile) (09:24)
النيل الأبيض
05 – Sama’i Ghofran (04:39)
سماعي غفران
06 – Ghurbah (Diaspora) (07:11)
غربة
07 – Ta’ammul (Reflection) (09:10)
تأمل
08 – Farahafaza (10:05)
فرحفزا
09 – Nawa Athar Etude (01:36)
تمرين نوا أثر

Duration: 65:27 | Bitrate: 320 kBit/s | Year: 2005 | Size: 157 mb

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Tags: Ahmad Al-Khatib, Instrumental, oud, سراج, سراج على سراج, عزف, عود, فلسطين