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Music
Review
[Bratsch]
Theatre Review
[Arab-Israeli Cookbook]
Comedy
[Paris Arab Comics Take French By Storm]
June Events
[Concert + Film Screenings/Panels]
 Bratsch
Abolishes Borders, Transmits Across Time
By Vanessa De Loya
Recently the Paris-based world music group Bratsch gave
a rare concert in Los Angeles, at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre,
bringing echoes of Django Reinhardt, Greek folk and the best
of central European Gypsy music. Vanessa De Loya writes an appreciation.
There are archives to preserve, just as there are archaic impulses
worth retaining, core identities, and family ties ineffably
present by virtue of the absence of our ancestors. Origins return
to us, an incontrovertible backwash, like Proust's madeleine,
or the buried melodies of our youth that speak of undeniable
truths. We may be uprooted from our heritage, but it won't be
forgotten!
Archaeologists of our ancestral mosaic, members of the French-Armenian
group Bratsch (named for the popular Hungarian alto violin)
bring us offerings from their wanderings, hidden musical treasures,
scattered here and there in diverse diasporas—Armenian,
Yiddish, Greek, Gypsy, central European. Listening to their
repertoire, it is almost as if one's amnesia is being undone
and old memories are returned to us whole. Evocative and emotional,
the music of Bratsch entrances and inspires.
Continue review here
Food
and Conflict Merge in
“The Arab-Israeli Cookbook”
By
Jordan Elgrably
The
Arab-Israeli Cookbook, a play by Robin Soans, directed
and produced by Louis Fantasia, at the MET Theatre, 1089 N.
Oxford, Los Angeles, CA. 90018. Through June 26, 2005.
 In
"The Arab-Israeli Cookbook," kibbeh, falafel, fattoush
and grape leaves, among other mezze and main courses, are
almost as central to the story as the 40 characters inhabited
by the nine actors on stage. The old adage "you are what
you eat" is never far from anyone’s mind during
the drama that ensues. Each of these residents of Jerusalem,
Haifa, Tel Aviv, Bethlehem or a West Bank refugee camp, whether
they are Muslim, Jewish or Christian, talks about family,
food and the hope for a better future. And while almost everyone
is paranoid about suicide bombings or Israeli military incursions,
the audience quickly comes to understand that Palestinians
and Israelis are in this crucible together—no wall, no
matter how many meters high or how many kilometers long, will
ever truly separate their interwoven destinies.
Continue review here
 |
 |
| Gad
el-Maleh |
Jamel
Debbouze |
France
Embraces Comics with a Mideastern Flavor
Gad
el-Maleh is a proud-of-his-roots Moroccan-born comic who has
taken France by storm. "I'm Jewish and Moroccan,"
he says. "That's my reality. I've got a Judeo-Moroccan
education. I speak Arabic as much as I speak French and Hebrew."
Gad's close friend is another Moroccan-born comic, of Muslim
heritage, Jamel Debbouze. In this article, originally published
in Beirut's Daily
Star, Paris resident Olivia Snaije profiles them both,
along with the young Algerian-born comic, Rachida Khalil.
By Olivia Snaije, Daily Star
PARIS—The
French sense of humor (or lack of it) is an oft-debated subject.
Just a few years ago The Economist published an article entitled
"Very Droll," which posed the question: "The French have jokes,
but do they have a sense of humor?" Ask
any French teenager what they do with their free time, however,
and a large number will say they watch DVDs of one-man shows
featuring comedians like Jamel Debbouze or Gad el-Maleh.
Both
performers, originally from Morocco, are huge stars in France.
Jamel (seen in the films "Asterix and Cleopatra," "Amelie"
and Spike Lee's "She Hate Me") is one of the country's best-paid
actors. Maleh, who also has several films under his belt,
has become France's Billy Crystal by hosting the César
awards ceremony—the Gallic equivalent of the Oscars.
Comedy
is big time in France and many of the actors getting the laughs
come from the country's North African immigrant community,
whether Muslim or Jewish.
Continue review here
June Events
 June
11th (Sat) 9pm—The RebbeSoul Band returns to Fais Dodo
"Multi-talented
RebbeSoul seamlessly mixes international musical influences
into his own unique sound. Rhythms from Eastern Europe,
Africa, and the Middle East are evident as they weave and
wind through rock, pop, and jazz tones." - Joey
Alkes, Music Biz Magazine. Listen
to a sample song, such as Quaafilah.
RebbeSoul’s
highly anticipated new album, Change
The World With A Sound, shows RebbeSoul moving to the
next level musically - mixing Mizrahi chant and electronic
beats with the signature funk/folk/ethnic rock style that
his audience has come to know and love.
Doors open at 8 pm, concert at 9 pm. Cover $10. Fais Dodo,
5257 West Adams Blvd., LA, CA 90016. Fais Dodo is one of
the original world music venues in Los Angeles. This night
will feature some very special, surprise guests. Visit Faisdodo.com
or call 323.935.9989 for information and reservations.
Levantine Cultural Center is cosponsoring the following
film preview events in June...
 June
18, 4:15 pm—"Le Grand Voyage" Screens in
the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival at the Directors Guild
1
Le
Grand Voyage
[French/Arabic
with English Subtitles]
Screening cosponsored by
Levantine Cultural Center &Moroccan L.A.
Directed By: Ismaël Ferroukhi
Mustapha, a Moroccan immigrant living in France, wants to
make a last pilgrimage to Mecca before he dies. He enlists
his reluctant, thoroughly westernized son, Réda,
to drive him there. As they begin a journey across seven
nations in Europe and Northern Africa, the confines of the
car become a pressure cooker for their many differences—in
education, language, and attitude toward tradition. Great
road movie!
Also, Sun, June 19, 7:00 pm, Sunset Laemmle 2.
Buy Tix
 June
21/22—"Yes," the new film by Sally Potter
starring Joan Allen and Simon Abkarian
Tue,
Jun 21, 7:30 pm, DGA Theatre 1.
Wed, Jun 22, 2:00 pm, Laemmle Sunset 2.
Yes
Directed By: Sally Potter
In a complex story that is sure to provoke thought and argument,
a successful molecular scientist in a loveless marriage
begins an affair with a Middle Eastern man. A surgeon in
his native Lebanon, in London the man is reduced to working
as a cook and waiter. Though the two have much in common,
their affair soon begins to strain under the pressures of
their cultural and political differences. Stemming from
a scene—an argument between two lovers—that director
Sally Potter wrote in response to post-9/11 demonizations
of both Arabs and Americans, "Yes" takes on bold
and controversial themes of racism, terrorism, sexual politics,
and other painful divisions of the modern world in artfully
dramatic form.
Buy
Tix
 June
23 (Thurs)—Meet Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri for
Film/Panel of "Lila Says" at the Westside Pavilion
Cinemas
Lila Says
[French/Arabic with English Subtitles]
In cooperation with Samuel Goldwyn Films
Meet "West Beirut" director Ziad Doueiri in a
post-film discussion moderated by Antoine Harb as Doueiri
discusses the making of "Lila Says."
LILA
SAYS (Lila dit ca), France/Italy/UK, made its US Premiere
in the World Dramatic Competition at the 2005 Sundance Film
Festival. This is an exclusive preview screening before
the film opens in Los Angeles on July 1.
Limited seating, purchase tix here:
 About
the Film
In a Marseilles ghetto, Lila, a gorgeous sixteen-year-old
Catholic girl (Vahina Giocante), stops to talk to Chimo, a
nineteen-year-old Arab boy (Mohammed Khouas). Lila asks Chimo
to look up her skirt -- if he can handle it, and puts into
motion a sequence of events that is shockingly raw, sensual,
and devastating. Lila's angelic demeanor barely contains the
vitality and powerful eroticism that she shares with him and
with which she transports the shy and sensitive Chimo from
the bleakness of his life.
To
read more about the film, including theatre location, go to
the Lila Says page!
 June
27 (Mon), 8 pm—Rachid Taha at the Knitting Factory Hollywood
Algerian worldbeat artist Rachid
Taha was born in the Gulf of Oran during the peak of the Independence
War era; as a child, he relocated with his family to France,
later finding employment as a dishwasher, cook and factory
worker before landing a gig as a DJ at a small area club.
Forming the group Carte de Sejour, Taha attempted to create
a style of Arabic rock music heavily influenced by the Algerian
rai sound. In 1990 he went solo, moving into dance music.
Teaming with producer Steve Hillage, he debuted in 1995 with
a self-titled effort, followed a year later by Ole Ole. Taha
returned in 1998 with Diwan. His 2000 release, Made in Medina,
was recorded in Paris, London, Marrakech and New Orleans,
reflecting the wide range of cultural influences that helped
shape the recording. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide. Rachid's
latest album is Tékitoi (2004), re-released in the
U.S. as Who Are you?
***Critic's Review***
Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
In a belated attempt to introduce Algerian rai star Rachid
Taha's eighth album, 2004's Tékitoi, to a wider American
audience, his label has re-released the album for the third
time in under a year. The new edition translates the album
and song titles into English (fair enough) and remixes the
sound a bit to emphasize the dance beats and tough rock guitars
over the traditional North African elements, which is not
anywhere near as much of a travesty as it might sound to purists
since producer Steve Hillage (Gong, etc.) had already smartly
integrated the electronics into Taha's sound. So far, so good,
but Who Are You? mystifyingly makes the mistake of dropping
the last three songs ("Stenna," "Ya Rayah"
and the Spanish-language "Voila Voila") from previous
editions of the album; this is particularly frustrating since
the traditional-sounding "Ya Rayah" (a tune popularized
by the late Dahman el Harrachi) and the nearly acid-house
dance groove of "Voila Voila" added much to the
album's musical depth and sense of variety. There are still
plenty of gems on this album, the slyly sarcastic reworking
of the Clash's "Rock the Casbah" and the dub-like
sonic depth of the Brian Eno co-write "Dima," but
shortening the album by removing some of its best (albeit
least representative) songs is no way to treat the audience
that the label is trying to court.
In the Main room, Knitting Factory, 7021 Hollywood Blvd.,
Los Angeles 90028. Tix $20. Click
here to purchase.
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