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The Babylon Arabic Band

THE BABYLON ARABIC BANDmspmb enableJSURL="false"

About Me

____________________________________________________________ _______ THE BABYLON ARABIC BAND ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------- FOR MORE INFO AND BOOKINGS PLEASE CONTACT MAREN:07727604212 ____________________________________________________________ ______ THE BABYLON ARABIC BAND CD “SAMRA” IS NOW AVAILABLE IN ALL MAJOR UK RECORDE STORES AND ON AMAZON.CO.UK ____________________________________________________________ ______http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samra-Babylon-Arabic-Band/dp/B 000NTPE0E/ ____________________________________________________________ ______ DISTRIBUTED THROUGH PROPER MUSIC LTD TEL:0044(0)2086765141 ____________________________________________________________ _______ This UK based band consists of Iraqi, Scottish, German and English musicians. Led by M. Nafee Mohammed, they present here a selection of Mohammed's favorite songs which he performed at parties and celebrations in Baghdad. Mohammed is now hosting parties and performing for new audiences around the UK with the talented musicians he has discovered here. The Babylon Arabic Band performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival,The Hairth O'Knockrach Festival, Scottish National Museum, Middle Eastern Peace Festival Edinburgh, Mela Festival and Scottish Refugee Week.------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------"If you were being perversely optimistic, you might argue that one positive result of the catastrophic situation in Iraq is that so many of its fine musicians are now living abroad and sharing their country's rich culture with the rest of us. The singer and Oud (lute) player M Nafee Mohammed has found his way to Edinburgh, from where he tours all over Scotland and leads The Babylon Arabic Band. The other members of the group are local performers who have studied Middle Eastern music, and their first recording features a good selection of Oriental traditional favourites. Mohammed has a fine voice and the other musicians especially percussionist Chas Whitaker play with a balanced sense of authentic style. At the same time the performances are pretty four-square and rarely venture beyond the basic rendition of the tune : though things do start to move more freely on Il Bulbul; when Maren Lueg's sax playing bounces around the melody. The relative simplicity of the performances would make this a good choice for learning your first bellydance steps to, or transcribing some well known Arab tunes to play along with ." - Bill Badley - SONGLINES World Music Magazine Issue 47 Nov. 2007. ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------- FOR MORE INFO AND BOOKINGS PLEASE CONTACT MAREN:07727604212

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/15/2007
Band Website: arabicdrum.co.uk
Band Members: M. NAFEE MOHAMMED - VOCALS / OUD. Born and raised in Iraq, Mohammed started singing and playing Oud from an early age. Now resident in Scotland he is involved in many events and performances. Such notable examples are the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and playing for the Scottish Opera with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 2002. He organises frequent ARABIAN NIGHT PARTIES around Scotland, plays at many Haflas and has performed at events in support of refugees. His life has been documented in the fascinating BBC film -THEN and NOW ( 2003 ). ____________________________________________________________ ________________________________ MAREN LUEG - FLUTE / SOPRANO AND TENOR SAXOPHONE. Maren was born and raised in Germany and is now resident in the UK. Inspired by the sounds she heard from the Turkish and East European communities. She began studying these styles as well as Jazz, Blues and Latin on the saxophone and flute. She performs regularly with British and Middle Eastern musicians around the UK and has studied such traditional Middle Eastern wind instruments as the Nay (bamboo flute) and Zurna (double reed pipe) in Turkey and Israel. ____________________________________________________________ ________________________________CHAS WHITAKER - DARABUKA / DOUF / RIQ / ZILLS. Chas is predominantly self-taught, studying a range of Middle Eastern and North African percussion. Over the last 10 years he has been performing and teaching across the UK and abroad. He plays in several bands and accompanies many Oriental dancers specializing in drum solos. He teaches locally in South West England and nationally including the UK’s largest drum festivals as well as teaching in Turkey for Drum and Dance holidays. Currently travelling and studying in Turkey and Israel you can find more information on Chas' activities as well as Oriental percussion at his website - www.arabicdrum.co.uk ____________________________________________________________ ________________________________ JOEL SANDERSON - CELLO / DOUBLE BASS. Joel hails from Central Scotland and has always been surrounded by music. His father was a professional violin maker and player and led a musical family which include a string quartet. Aged 4 Joel started on a viola, which his father had added a spike to. Today, Joel performs classical, folk, jazz, rock, pop and world music on both cello and double bass. He produces music from his home studio, including sound tracks for film and animation, as well as performing live, accompanying dance, performance art, theatre and storytelling.
Influences: Middle Eastern Music
Sounds Like: THE BABYLON ARABIC BAND CD “SAMRA” IS NOW AVAILABLE IN ALL MAJOR UK RECORDE STORES AND ON AMAZON.CO.UKhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Samra-Babylon-Arabic-Ban d/dp/B000NTPE0E/
Record Label: Proper Music UK tel:0044(0)2086765141
Type of Label: Indie