Sinan Cem Eroğlu
"Sinan Cem Eroglu is some of the best instrumentalist and the first modern virtuoso of kaval in today's Turkish Folk Music..." - Songlines Magazine - Francesco Martinelli
"There is no doubt that Eroglu performs in all roles with a significant degree of skill that may be considered prodigious." - Songlines Magazine - Michael Galea
Club d’Elf: Legendary Boston Based Moroccan Trance Groove Collective
Club d’Elf is a collective of musicians fiercely dedicated to “the groove”, consisting of some of the most sought-after players from the jazz, world music, rock, and DJ scenes of Boston, New York City & beyond. The band's music draws from a startlingly wide spectrum of styles, including jazz, hip hop, electronica, avant garde, prog-rock and dub. Under the tutelage of member Brahim Fribgane (who hails from Casablanca) the band has absorbed Moroccan trance music, which is now an essential part of the mix. Diverse audiences are drawn to Fribgane’s mesmerizing oud stylings, and leader/bassist Mike Rivard’s commanding playing of the Moroccan sintir. Trance forms the central core of the Club d’Elf aesthetic, weaving together the band’s various influences. The band's new album, You Never Know, offers gnawa refracted through a prism of contemporary psychedelia—Morocco turned technicolor. For this special SAMA performance, Rivard and Fribgane are joined by guitarist David Fiuczynski and percussionist/vocalist Fabio Pirozzolo.
www.clubdelf.com
"You Never Know, is a wide ranging romp, full of serenity, chaos, longing, improvisation and peerless musicianship inspired by music from India and Morocco as well as the maverick jazz of Miles Davis and Frank Zappa." - Banning Eyre, Afropop Worldwide
Chalaban: Moroccan Spiritual Trance Roots
The group’s diverse sound is defined by the musician’s Afro-Arab roots, with their lively, exuberant Moroccan music enhanced by elements of Carpathian Basin, Roma and Balkan music, all while singing in Arabic.
Third World United (3WU)
Passion for creative collaboration and keen, authentic perspectives distinguish 3WU, which is a homegrown musical collective with influences from Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East, as well as the United States. While their families’ stories can in some ways be traced back to Seattle’s “Sanctuary City” designation, what the group brings to the musical table today represents the result of assimilations, buoyed by the heartbeat of the American Dream.
The members’ songs tell the stories that humanize culture and communities, rather than distort and misinform. Along with their role together as a musical collective, 3WU is also an independent record label, community hub and growing international force. The June 19th performance will feature 3UW’s founder, Essam; poet and emcee, Akhi Abu; voice and sample-focused producer, Petty Pro; and the illustrious vocalist, Amina.
Samir LanGus: Gnawa Healing & Trance Music from Agadir, Morocco.
Samir Langus was born and raised in the city of Agadir, Morocco and learned Gnawa from the old masters of Morocco. Gnawa is the southern Moroccan trance music with roots in pre-islamic animist traditions. Samir Langus’ NY band uses traditional instrumentation such as the lute-like Sintir and the large castanet-type Krakebs to accompany its ancient chants, but his approach is resolutely innovative (his first band was called Innov Gnawa). It is an hypnotic, take on this ecstatic, trance-inducing tradition that has enthralled and inspired generations of musicians from around the world.