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Levantine Cultural Center is an independent, member-supported nonprofit organization dedicated to serving diverse communities in Southern California. Visit a New Site Featuring Middle East writing in translation! Articles of Note The "Heart" of Arab music by Jim Motavalli Persians on the Pacific by Tara Bahrampour Tariq Ali On Poetry In Turbulent Times in the Mideast (audio) |
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Moorish Music from the Arabs and the Jews
By Cynthia Citron
Beverly Hills Outlook
June 17, 2004
The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre has begun its outstanding summer season of music from around the world. On June 13th their offering was "Al Andalus to Jerusalem: Levantine Festival, presented by the Levantine Cultural Center.
In earlier times the Levant was comprised of the territory that is now Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, but the Levantine Cultural Center, founded here in Los Angeles in 2001, claims the territory from Morocco in the west to Afghanistan in the east and from southern Greece to Kurdish Iran. Their purpose, they say, is to promote a "pan-cultural conversation beyond borders, passports, and dogmas." And on June 13th they did just that.
Getting the program off to a hilarious start, stand-up comedian Ahmed Ahmed talked about the trials and tribulations of being an Arab-American in these troubling times. He was followed by another excellent comedian, Aaron Kader, who asserted that when he had a son he was going to name him "Al."
Fortunately, these two gave their monologues in English. After that, it was anybody's guess. The music, most of which was not introduced, was soulful, atonal, and sometimes jarring. It came from Persia, Israel, Moorish Spain, and other points around the Arabic world and was played on a gorgeous assortment of ethnic instruments: flamenco guitar, oud (a variation of a lute), ney (a reed pipe), kamanja (a form of fiddle), woodwinds, percussion, castanets, and daff (tambourine).
Israeli composer Yair Dalal played oud and violin, accompanied by Yuval Ron, also on oud, Yegish Manoukian, who played an assortment of hauntingly melancholy flutes and clarinet, and Jamie Papish on the tablah, a vase-shaped drum made of colorfully decorated metal. They were accompanied by Najwa Gibran, whose powerful voice did ample justice to the trills and wails of Arabic music. This group was also joined by Kimberley Michelle, who performed a series of acrobatic strip-tease belly dances.
The second half of the show featured the Al-Andalus group, which was more entertaining, more interesting, and more talented. It consisted of Tarik Banzi on oud, ney, and vocals, Julia Banzi on flamenco guitar, viola, and percussion, Rasgui Boujemaa on kamanja, ney, percussion, and vocals, and Charlie Bisharat, a star all on his own, on violin. A Grammy Award-winning violinist who often sits in with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and accompanies pop, jazz and classical artists, Bisharat was awesome and worth the price of admission all by himself.
Al-Andalus was joined by classical flamenco dancer Ana Montes, who was also spectacular, especially in one number where she wielded a huge Spanish shawl as if it were her dance partner.
Since the songs were sung in a variety of languages that were not identified, I can't say much about them. Suffice it to say they were much appreciated by the audience (the amphitheater was nearly full), who sang along, hummed along, and clapped in accompaniment to the music, which they obviously recognized.
Upcoming cultural events at the Ford include the Jazz Tap Ensemble on July 2, Bluegrass at the Ford on July 3, Adventures in African Heritage on July 10 at 10 a.m. and the world premiere of "I Am Cuba" at 8 p.m., and the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony on July 11th. For more information and reservations, call the box-office at 323-461-3673.
“Al-Andalus to Jerusalem: Levantine Festival”
Director's Remarks at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
Welcome, marhaba, shalom. My name is Jordan Elgrably, and I have a dream, a vision of Arabs, Jews and Christians co-creating a harmonious space in which we show the world that the Middle East is a place of great culture, fascinating history, beautiful art and literature and music, and a place of peace.
Levantine Cultural Center is that harmonious space and it is the project for Southern California in the 21st century. We need this alternative to war, this alternative to conflict, this alternative to occupation and militarism and terrorism; we need to work together through the arts and cultures, through music and humor and storytelling, to get the point across: We want cheap gas! Rather, we want to make the world a better place to live in.
Levantine Cultural Center exists a bridge of understanding between us all, regardless of our heritage; and to forge unity among us with the arts as our prism.
There are more than a million people in Southern California who have roots in one or more Mediterranean or Middle Eastern cultures. It’s more than a matter of exploring traditional cultures: it is giving contemporary artists the space to speak to us through their creative work, to engender debate and dialogue, to provoke us to rethink ourselves, to rethink our relationship to culture, to politics and our complex identities.
Tonight, we are about to embark upon a magic carpet journey from troubled times to a better, more harmonious future—a future very much inspired by the past, by Al-Andalus. Let’s take this magic carpet to Al-Andalus and find some inspiration for today.
Al-Andalus, of course, was the historical period of medieval Spain that lasted over five hundred years. It was the first modern pluralist society in which Arabs, Jews and Christians collaborated in the arts and sciences to create what was in fact the most advanced society of the day. Echoes of Al-Andalus’ multicultural societies continue to exist in the Levant, from North Africa to Greece, Turkey and the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean—from Casablanca to Cairo, from Beirut to Baghdad, from Haifa and Jerusalem to Tangier and Tehran.
What does it mean to be a pluralist? It means to see beyond borders and passports, where in fact, the hearts of people ARE our nationalities. In some sense, it means seeing we are all one.
Being a pluralist means getting to know people who seem different from you, but who in fact share many common dreams and desires. It means living in a diverse environment where different religious beliefs or political persuasions are a given. It means that we understand what makes America great: for this is the great postmodern pluralist society, is it not?
When you are a pluralist, you recognize that peoples’ differences are what make them beautiful, and you celebrate those differences while at the same time cherishing what makes us all similar: our love of good music and good food, and good friends and good times.
I have a lot of people to thank for making this night possible, including the folks here at the Ford and the LA County Arts Commission, and all those who have freely donated their time and often their money to help create Levantine Cultural Center.
Levantine Cultural Center organizes monthly salons and produces and cosponsors film screenings and readings, concerts and festivals, classes and conferences. Ahead we will coproduce a new Middle East film festival with Cal Arts and the Redcat Theatre; as well as a major international poetry festival that includes Mahmoud Darwish. We are looking to sponsor important new art and photography exhibits, thought-provoking plays and much, much more.
Before I introduce our friend, comic Ahmed Ahmed, I want to ask you to join us: become a member of Levantine Cultural Center, do it tonight if you can; become a participant in this dream, this vision of coexistence and culture, of art and exploration. Join us by making a contribution of your time or money or both, and you’ll enjoy many more remarkable evenings like the one we’re about to experience, and you’ll receive discounts and fringe benefits throughout the year. Because none of this happens without your support. Levantine Cultural Center exists for you and your friends and your future, the children of tomorrow, our dreams of a better day.
http://www.laweekly.com/calendar/
My Funny Levantine
By Mary Beth Crain
June 11, 2004
You might have seen him on Roseanne, Tracey Takes On or The Today Show. Or you might have read about him in Newsweek or The Wall Street Journal. His name's Ahmed Ahmed, and he’s a standup comic with a, shall we say, challenging agenda: to unearth the hilarious side of life as an Arab-American, a talent which makes him the obvious choice to emcee "Al-Andalus to Jerusalem: Levantine Festival." Peace might be a long way off in the Middle East, but it’s right here at the Ford Amphitheater, where the Levantine Cultural Center has cooked up a bold bash that explores that region’s mystical and sacred music and dance traditions, and reminds us that once upon a time, in the historical Al-Andalus period (A.D. 800-1400) ,cultural and religious pluralism and harmony among the three major religious groups created one of the most artistically and scientifically evolved societies in history. In keeping with that admirable tradition, the Levantine Festival "offers an empowering musical, vocal and dance experience that represents a path of
peace and hope."
The event features the L.A. premiere of the Al-Andalus, a musical melting-pot ensemble with members hailing from Morocco, Spain and the U.S.; Israeli composer, oud and violin virtuoso Yair Dalal, whose music, reflecting both Iraqi and Jewish Arabic traditions, was described by the Jerusalem Post as "so beautiful it was almost unbearable"; and L.A.-based Yuval Ron, who, with his ensemble and renowned Palestinian vocalist Najwa Gibran (you can hear her on the soundtrack of "Helen of Troy"), weaves together strands from the sacred musical traditions of Judaism, Sufism and the Christian Armenian Church. It takes a multicultural musical emporium like this to remind us that we’re all part of the big human soul, and what the heck is all the fighting about? Or, as Ahmed Ahmed is fond of observing, "Jews and Muslims have more in common than any religion ever, if you think about it. Both Jews and Muslims don't eat pork. We don't celebrate Christmas. We both use 'ccchhh' in our pronunciation. And we're both hairy creatures of God."
—Mary Beth Crain
Al-Andalus to Jerusalem: Levantine Festival, John Anson Ford Amphitheater, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hlywd.; Sun., June 13, 8 p.m.; $50-$20. (323) 461-3673 or www.fordamphitheatre.org.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=12395
Melting Pot for Peace
By Gaby Wenig, Staff Writer
June 11, 2004
It's hard to imagine a period when Jews and Arabs got along — but that's apparently what they did from 800-1400 B.C.E., in the historical Al-Andalus period. In Spain and North Africa, Jews, Christians and Muslims got together and collaborated on arts and sciences to create one of the world's most advanced societies.
Now, Al-Andalus, an eclectic group of musicians from all over the world is recreating the spirit of the historical Al-Andalus in concerts that celebrate the mystical pluralism of the Arab-Jewish music traditions.
"The idea with Al-Andalus is that was a melting pot that took place in Spain," said flamenco guitarist and Al-Andalus co-founder Julie Banzi, who spoke to The Journal from Tangiers, Morocco. "We are making an analogy to what happened in Al-Andalus and what is happening now. On an artistic level what we are trying to do is recreate that harmony, so [in our concerts] we do some traditional pieces, some Sephardic pieces, some in Ladino, classical pieces, Andalusian pieces, and we have contemporary work building from that."
At the group's June 13 concert, "Al-Andalus to Jerusalem," organized by the Levantine Cultural Center and co-sponsored by Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center, Banzi and her husband Tarik — who plays oud, ney and percussion, are going to be joined by Israeli-Iraqi ethnic musician Yair Dalal, Los Angeles-based Yuval Ron, Palestinian vocalist Najwa Gibran, Armenian woodwind musician Norik Maoukian, modern/Middle East dancer Kimberley Michelle, U.S. percussionists Jamie Papish and David Martinelli and various other musicians from around the world in a concert that will be emceed by Ahmed Ahmed, an Egyptian born, California raised stand-up comic.Banzi said the concerts make a "semi-political" statement.
"Many people in modern times think Arabs and Jews have always fought and that they have never gotten along," she said. "One of the side goals [of our concerts] is to say 'no, they haven't always fought,' and by remembering that past maybe we can help create a better future for everyone."
"Al-Andalus to Jerusalem""will take place at the Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. on June 13 at 8 p.m. $50-$20. For tickets, call (323) 461-3673 or visit www.fordamphitheatre.org.
For more information on Al-Andalus, visit www.andalus.com.
For details on past, present and future programs, please visit our calendar.
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