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Two Iconic Divas Live On In San Francisco

Earlier this month, Aswat, a San Francisco Bay Area musical ensemble dedicated to preserving folkloric, classical and contemporary Arabic music, staged an ambitious musical tribute to honor two of the Arab world’s most beloved singers: Egypt’s Umm Kulthum and Lebanon’s Fairuz at the College of San Mateo Theatre on May 5. The much-anticipated concert sold out weeks in advance, a shining testament to the popularity and love for these two Arab divas, even in an age of Hip Hop and Techno Pop.

The voices of Kulthum and Fairuz are considered the soundtracks of the Arab world not only because they sang popular songs about love, but because their compositions about patriotism and Arab Nationalism served as an inspiration to millions. Both singers came from very humble beginnings and achieved legendary popularity during their lifetimes.

The World is Too Full: Rumi’s Message of Universal Love Still Resonates

“Poems are rough notations for the music we are” ~Rumi

Someone once said that poets are the mouthpieces of God, and there is arguably no better spokesperson than Jelaluddin Rumi, the 13th century Islamic mystic. Today, even after 800 years, Rumi’s message of universal love still resonates, transcending religion, nationality, culture and class. It’s especially ironic- yet perhaps fitting- that more than a decade after 9/11, Rumi is America’s best-selling poet.

“The Rumi Concert: Lion of the Heart,” an event sponsored by the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and performed at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, was a magical celebration of Rumi’s words, combining the oratory talents of American poet/author Coleman Barks, cellist/composer David Darling, Grammy-award winning percussionist Glen Velez and dancer/storyteller Zuleikha.

Pan-Arab Hip Hop Gets Play at Stanford U

What began as the music of the marginalized here in the States has since grown into a global and multicultural movement- one where beats and rhyme flow as both nonviolent resistance against dictatorship and a globalized call for unity and action. MTV can have their cars and BET can take their bling: Hip Hop has always been, at its heart, the struggle for equality, not manufactured images of drugs, misogyny and corporate materialism.

Take the popular mantra from Arabian Knightz’s 2012 video “Unknighted,” highlighting the multi-national all-stars of Arab rap: “Hip Hop ain’t dead: it never died. It just moved to the Middle East where the struggle’s still alive.” Two of the acts featured in the video- Palestinian trio DAM and Syrian-American Omar Offendum, performed at Stanford University this past weekend at Stanford University for the event Globalization of Hip Hop: Spotlight Middle East. They then took part in a panel discussion about Hip Hop and socio-political revolution, moderated by Stanford Arabic professor and KZSU Arabology radio host Dr. Ramzi Salti.

Sounding Holy Joy: Concert Unites Israeli, Iranian and Palestinian Performers for Middle East Peace

“Music is the sole border that we may all cross together with the passport of love in our hearts and peace in our souls.”

~ Naser Musa

There actually may be peace in the world if we had more people like Julia Gilden and Yair Dalal. Gilden, who currently works as a dance teacher at Temple Sinai in Oakland, Calfornia, has spent much of her life bringing people together through her love of modern dance, experimental theater and spoken word. Yair Dalal is a prolific Iraqi/Israeli composer, musician and peace activist whose compositions celebrate Iraqi and Jewish Arabic music.

Music Sans Borders: Pakistan’s Zeb and Haniya, Cultural Diplomacy, and “Lahori Blues”

They came onto the stage nondescript. Set against the backdrop of the Lamont School of Music’s massive organ, literally crowning over them, the band looked small, serious, almost a little out of their element as they got ready to play their 15- song set for a full house of around 225.

But then again, when it comes to concerts, I should know better to determine anything until after the music starts playing.

Re-Enchanting the World: American Jazz Legend Archie Shepp Dazzles at the Fes Sacred Music Festival in Morocco

Fes: The Imperial City. Driving into the medina from centre ville, it’s easy to get the impression of travelling backwards in time to a magical era where easy living was customary and where cell phones, iPods and the electronic devices that dominate life today seemed like unnecessary advancements in technology. The smell of kefta, hashed, grilled meat, wafts through the air and Moroccan men sip tea, sitting quietly among the tourists that have descended on the kasbah from nearly every part of the world for the 18th Annual Fes Sacred Music Festival — a week-long concert series that brings together some of the world’s most talented musicians to promote musical and cultural harmony.