Reem Kelani live on BBC Radio 3 on Friday 22 July

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Reem Kelani

Palestinian singer Reem Kelani

Renowned Palestinian vocalist and musicologist Reem Kelani will be appearing on BBC Radio 3’s “World on 3” from 11pm – 1am this Friday 22 July. In addition to an interview with Mary Ann Kennedy, Reem will be performing live in the studio, accompanied by Bruno Heinen on piano and Ryan Trebilcock on double bass.

When to listen to the BBC Radio 3 broadcast

You can listen to Reem Kelani’s performance live via the website or on the radio. Thanks to the Listen Again facility, it will be available for a month after the broadcast, in case you are unable to listen live. Reem Kelani has performed on BBC Radio 3 before, on the Andy Kershaw show in April 2007.

What to expect

Reem will be talking and playing songs from her highly praised new album “Reem Kelani: Live at the Tabernacle“. For a hard copy of this beautiful album, click here, but a digital version is also available here. Reem Kelani is known for her impressive vocal abilities, her talent for keeping a crowd mesmerized with her performance, and the valuable content and meaning of her shows and songs. The Musical Intifada strongly endorses her work, and urges you to spread the word and make sure you don’t miss the broadcast.

Reem Kelani’s new album: Live at the Tabernacle

Live at the Tabernacle

Reem Kelani’s new album: Live at the Tabernacle

When Reem Kelani released this album earlier this year, it was received with an avalanche of fully deserved praise. It’s the registration of a live performance at the Tabernacle in London, which took place on November 22, 2012. The album includes a track from her previous album ‘Sprinting Gazelle’, in a live version. Besides this, the listener gets to hear an array of new and enchanting musical gems as well.

Notably, there’s a track on the album called ‘1932 (for Sayyid Darwish)’. This one is dedicated to the legendary composer, widely considered to be the founding father of popular Egyptian music. Bruno Heinen plays his piano parts in the intro with masterful sensitivity. Further on in the song, the talented Tamer Abu Ghazaleh gently pushes his virtuoso Oud performance to the foreground. Throughout this track, Reem recites a heart-rending poem by Mu’in Bseiso, only rendering her voice into melody towards the end.

More about the album

Among my personal favorites is Songs of Parting (Furaaqiyyaat). This beauty starts with a haunting intro on the double bass by Ryan Trebilcock. After a while, Reem dishes up some intense Palestinian folkloric lyrics, phrased in powerful, melancholic melodies. Reem Kelani is one of the most gifted and versatile contemporary Palestinian vocalists. The way I see it, I feel her vocals coming through very strongly in this track. Also, the typically Palestinian themes of parting and separation, understandably central in the Palestinian narrative, really hit home for me. That having been said, the entire album is worth listening to, and a must-have for all Palestinophiles.

Live music

I therefore strongly disagree with the remarks of Maha El Nabawi, in The National. While she contends that ‘to get it, you need to see it’, I believe the problem lies more with her perceptions, than with the album itself. ‘Live at the Tabernacle’ isn’t a studio-produced album, but a live one, and considering its title, it pretends to be nothing else but that. You could put away practically any live album in the world with this type of labeling.

Surely, if you don’t like live albums, I’m sure you’re not going to buy Reem Kelani’s CD, are you? On the contrary, for those who have no sensitivities about recordings of live performances, this is an album that you can thoroughly enjoy. In my personal opinion, what often goes amiss in live recordings is the drums, and my verdict on the work of drummer Antonio Fusco is: quite tasteful indeed.

Conclusion

To sum everything up: don’t miss Reem’s live gig on Friday 22 July 2016. If you do, make sure you catch up by listening to it afterwards. It’s going to be yet another live performance, right? Therefore, if you’re not among the lucky ones who have access to an actual live Reem Kelani performance, this is surely going to turn out to be an excellent alternative.

One of the slogans featured prominently on my original website, perhaps 15 years ago or so, was: “The only real music is live music”. I guess that sounds a little extreme to some, but what I meant by it is simply that the ultimate musical experience is the here and now. If you listen to the broadcast live, you will be hearing Reem Kelani in the here and now. That, undoubtedly, will be a moving experience, considering her amazing vocal talents!

Doc Jazz

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Doc Jazz

Doc Jazz is a Palestinian musician, currently based in the United Arab Emirates. He was born and raised in the Netherlands, which is where he started his first musical endeavors. He works full-time as a surgeon, and produces his songs in his free time. He usually does all the instruments and vocals in his recordings by himself. His music, which covers a wide variety of genres ranging from funky pop and jazz all the way to rap and Arabic music, has been featured on many media outlets in the Netherlands, in the Middle East, and elsewhere. The Palestinian cause plays a big role in the themes of his songs.

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