Mounqaliba, the new recording from Natacha Atlas
I feel it important to start off this review by saying that I really enjoyed some of Natacha Atlas' earlier work with Halim and Something Dangerous being my favorites. Ya, there was always an orientalist vibe going on but the "cool" factor in the composition and production always overshadowed any shortcomings. So, in short, I am a fan.

Moving forward.

On first listen it would seem as though Natacha Atlas' latest release, Mounqaliba, is a concept album...which begs the question, what is the concept?

released by Ifc Films
The films of Fatih Akin caught my attention early on, with his second feature to make it stateside, Head-On (2004). A bleak story of two Turks in Hamburg, the movie signaled the arrival of a new writer/director who was going to give more established auteurs like Wim Wenders and Tom Tykwer a run for their money. But Fatih Akin was young, Turkish and Muslim—and Head-On explored the underbelly of Turkish life in both Germany and Turkey in a way that was impossible to forget.

"The extraordinary Sussan Deyhim, a computer age coloratura, has conquered unimagined realms." —Los Angeles Times

"Sussan Deyhim creates thrilling music that sounds in the ear long after you have left the show."
—New York Times

Sussan Deyhim's Panoramic: a unique performance
This Persian composer, vocalist and performance artist will take you on a magical journey to an entirely new musical experience. Sussan Deyhim transports audiences with her profoundly moving fusion of traditional orchestrations, Western vocal technique and the mysticism of Middle Eastern music. Guest appearance by Mohsen Namjoo and Ardeshir Farah.

Purchase tickets for Sussan Deyhim's Panoramic online and receive a special discount. First choose your seats, then select "20% Discount" on the drop down menu in your shopping cart to receive 20% off. This promotion may not be applied to previously purchased tickets. For more information, call our box office at 310.434.3200 (Mon-Fri, noon-6pm). 20% discount link

Visit the Sussan Deyhim site.

Bana Hilal and the Orange County Friends of the Levantine Cultural Center present Syrian American poet/novelist Mohja Kahf, who makes a rare Southern California appearance in support of the Levantine Cultural Center at the Woman's Club of Laguna Beach, on Tuesday, September 28, where she will read from, sign and discuss her books The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, and E-mails from Scheherazad. As the New York Times wrote, "Mohja Kahf, an Arab-American writer, draws sharp, funny, earthy portraits of the fault line separating Muslim women from their Western counterparts."

A portion of the proceeds benefits the LCC, a nonprofit that champions a greater understanding of the Middle East and North Africa by presenting artistic and educational programs that bridge political and religious divides.

Kamran PashaNovelist and screenwriter Kamran Pasha will be reading from, signing, and discussing his newly published historical novel, Shadow of the Swords (Simon & Schuster's Atria Books, 2010), as well as his first novel, Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam (Washington Square Press. April 2009), at the Levantine Cultural Center on September 12, 2010 (note, dated changed from 9/9). The American Muslim has described Pasha's fictional account of the Prophet Muhammad's teenage wife as "pivotal in our communications about Islam," while Reza Aslan, author of the highly-acclaimed, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, has said of Pasha's work, "a brilliant, beautiful historical novel unlike anything I've read in years." 

Reviewed by Jordan Elgrably

Natacha Atlas: live at the Skirball July 29, 2010In a mellifluous voice that was at once deep, soft, beautiful and strong, former Transglobal Underground vocalist Natacha Atlas brought her east-west repertoire back to Los Angeles on July 29. The cross-over artist performed in a free open-air concert at the Skirball Center that was supported by the L.A. County Arts Commission and the city's Department of Cultural Affairs. A star in parts of Europe and the Middle East, Natacha Atlas has a smaller following Stateside but certainly merits a broader audience, both among those who love world music and fusion, and others with a passion for female vocalists.

Dia al-AzzawiDia al-Azzawi was born in Baghdad in 1939. He is an outstanding artist, art consultant, and author who has written several articles about Iraqi contemporary art and Arab art. He is a prominent artist of the Iraq school who played a role in the promotion of Iraqi and Arab art to wider audiences, notably through numerous publications and exhibitions of his and his contemporaries' works. In 1969 he formed the art group New Vision along with other artists such as Rafa al-Nasiri, Mohammed Muhriddin, Ismail Fattah, Hachem al Samarchi, and Saleh al-Jumaie. Al-Azzawi joined the One Dimension group that Shakir Hassan al-Said initiated but remained within the fold of New Vision until 1972. Beyond painting, Al-Azzawi's work includes sculptures, prints, and drawings, as well as books through which visual art interacts with prose and poetry. He has exhibited extensively in the Middle East, North Africa, United States, India, Brazil, and Europe, including a retrogressive exhibition, "Dia Azzawi," at the Institute du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris in 2002. In 1976, Al-Azzawi relocated to London to work as an art consultant at the Iraqi Cultural Centre.

"Arbol de la Vida": by Vahé BerberianRecently I attended the opening reception for contemporary Armenian artist Vahé Berberian's latest collection of paintings, "Involuntary Laughter". The visionary abstract expressionist has once again produced a series of thought-provoking paintings.

The title "Involuntary Laughter" might imply entertainment or triviality—a would-be departure from Berberian's style. Armenians, as Berberian has been noted to say, tend towards seriousness. Indeed, many of his earlier paintings have a solemn, dark overtone. In contrast the works in the "Laughter" exhibit are almost effervescent. Did he draw the title from his own life experience as a celebrated monologuist and comedian in the Armenian language?

Reviewed by David Shasha

My Father's Paradise: your purchase in part benefits Levantine Cultural CenterTowards the end of Ariel Sabar's extraordinarily compelling retelling of his family's history in Iraqi Kurdistan, he makes a brilliant observation that encapsulates his tale and is emblematic of the broken stories of so many Middle Eastern Jews. Recalling his father's feverish memories of his fractured past-a past of rich traditions that were destroyed over the course of successive exiles-he states:

Dreams, I recalled now, had long been a refuge from his life's incongruities. During his first year in the United States, he once told me, he dreamed he was in New York, all alone in Grand Central Station. All at once, the train doors swept open and all of Zakho's Kurds poured out onto the platform. Dreams were a place where fragments could be made whole. (pp. 278-279)