For this project productiehuis ON invited Ad van Meurs, Haytham Safia and Anne-Maarten van Heuvelen; their assignment was to investigate a possible combination of American folk-blues and traditional Arabic music.
Both folk-blues and the Arabic taqsim (the improvised interplay without a fixed rhythm) are exceptionally suited for storytelling; the former in a somewhat rawer way, the latter mostly lyrical and melodic. In the same way as Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie documented their era in the early 20th century, the instrumentalist is the torchbearer of a centuries-old tradition in the virtually unwritten Arabic music culture.
Traditional Arabic music differs from other music cultures in the way in which the music scale is subdivided. Thus the music can adopt forms that are nearly impossible in the western octave system.
At the first NO blues sessions in 2004 the musicians soon succeeded in establishing a singular integration of folk-blues and Arabic music.
A real cross-breeding we call ARABICANA. A brand new sound that is created at the point where the river Eufraat and Tigris cross the Mississippi.
The sessions were concluded in 2004 and in 2005 the HT studio was visited in order to record the first album Farewell Shalabiye under the supervision of Ankie Keultjes.
After making waves with this album, a second album called Ya Dunya was released in February 2007. This album has 10 brand new tracks including 3 songs together with Tracy Bonham on vocals and violin. The cd also has a bonus cd with one song of each of the individual records of the musicians of NO blues. The cd is available at bol.com, iTunes, cdbaby and in all major recordstores in Europe.
The new cd called Lumen will be released at the end of 2008. In the meantime NO blues will be touring Holland, France, Belgium, Poland, the Tjech republic and Germany.
We get a lot of demand to travel France again, but due to the fact we don't have management in France, only one date is available yet.
Listen to NO blues live at the Huy festival 2007. Broadcasted by RTBF for the program "le Monde est un village".
If you want us to keep you updated on new releases, gigs and gossip of NO blues, drop us a mail at [email protected]
NO blues & interviews @ Ottersum
NO blues @ Blues Alive festival Sumperk (Tjech television)
live @ Dutch tv NPS Arena: Kunst
CLICK HERE FOR MORE VIDEOFOOTAGE OF NO BLUES
REVIEWS AND BACKGROUND INFO ON YA DUNYA & NO blues:
- NO blues in dagblad de pers januari 2008 (NL)
- recensie Ya Dunya in Trouw 22 september 2007 (NL)
- Interview Haytham Safia, Wandelende Tak, radio 6(NL)
- review of festival de Art, Huy (French)
- Interview Ad van Meurs bij Kunststof, radio 1(NL)
- review File under.nl
- 3VOOR12 Eindhoven(NL)
- liberation (Fr)
- Rootstime (Be)
- INakustik (De)
NO blues & Galili Dance present U'd, Us & Hiccups
