#rajoub

Sound: The Encounter -- a new project conceived, curated and produced by the Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI) as part of its mandate to support talented artists who develop their musical heritage in contemporary forms and revive historical connections among artistic communities from countries and regions in which the Initiative operates.

See them play live in NYC on December 7 at Asia Society and on December 8 at Alwan. More info here. 

Acclaimed Iranian musician and dancer Saeid Shanbezadeh traces his ancestry to Zanzibar in East Africa. Born in Busher, he is a virtuoso performer on Iranian bagpipes and percussion, as well as zar song and dance. Winner of the Fajr Music Festival (Teheran), he leads the conversation with a small consort of instruments that becomes a vehicle for improvisation in a sequence of virtuosic solo breaks accompanied by sustained drones and percussion.

Basel Rajoub hails from Aleppo, Syria. A graduate of Damascus High Institute of Music and winner of Radio Monte Carlo Moyen-Orient Music Award, Basel is known as a consummate performer, skilled improviser, and highly original composer creating new music that is rooted in a thousand-year-old tradition. Known for developing oriental music for the saxophone and merging jazz with Middle Eastern rhythms, Basel performs as a solo artist and a leader of the Basel Rajoub Ensemble.