Jazz Articles about Rabih Abou-Khalil

European Jazz Conference 2017

by Ian Patterson
October 2, 2017

European Jazz Conference 2017 Cankarjev dom jny: Ljubljana, Slovenia September 21-24, 2017 The snow-capped mountains flanking Ljubljana form a natural border between Slovenia and Italy and provided a picturesque backdrop to the 4th annual European Jazz Conference. For the record two hundred and twenty conference attendees [Europe Jazz Network members and guests] the sun shone and the air was cool. The handsome Slovenian capital, with its bicycle-friendly, litter-free streets felt serene as tourists strolled ...

Rabih Abou Khalil: Bridging Cultural Divides

by Nenad Georgievski
December 11, 2013

Rabih Abou Khalil is one of the most respected virtuoso oud players and composers whose wide range of interests and insatiable curiosity for new music from around the globe has significantly enriched his own work. His music is his own universe where an ongoing dialogue between Khalil and the rest of the world has been occurring. He was born and raised in the cosmopolitan climate of Beirut, Lebanon, before the civil war that ravaged his homeland forced him to leave ...

Rabih Abou Khalil and Penelope X at the Bitola World Music Festival 2013

by Nenad Georgievski
November 23, 2013

Rabih Abou Khalil/Penelope X Bitola World Music Festival NU Centar za Kultura Bitola, Macedonia November 9, 2013 Bitola, one of the most beautiful cities in southeastern Europe, is a place that ignites the imagination immediately. With its tasteful and stylish architecture reflected in multicolored facades and European honorary consulates, it displays the city's rich history that stretches back into ancient times. The city blossomed most during the rule of the ...

Rabih Abou-Khalil: Em Portugues

by Ian Patterson
March 9, 2009

Musical alchemist, oud virtuoso and springer of surprises, Rabih Abou-Khalil has never been shy about immersing himself into challenging musical environments. So the suggestion by Ricardo Pais, director of the Teatro Nacional Sao Joao, Porto to have Abou-Khalil write music to the words of five Portuguese poets represented an irresistible challenge. The project sees Abou-Khalil utilizing a singer for the first time--the impressive fadoist Ricardo Ribeiro. Em Portugues however, is not fado, but a marriage between its poetic, blues spirit ...

Rabih Abou-Khalil: Songs For Sad Women

by Ian Patterson
March 23, 2008

Showing respect and audacity in equal measure, the music of Lebanese oud player/composer Rabih Abou-Khalil has always stretched musical boundaries and traversed time. His is a music which embraces tradition, and challenges it. On Songs for Sad Women Abou-Khalil marshals a stripped-down ensemble which plays with air akin to intimate chamber music, yet with the soul of timeless folk music.

The combination of Armenian 'duduk,' (a double-reed instrument related to the cornet whose origins pre-date both Christianity and Islam), the ...

Rabih Abou-Khalil: Songs for Sad Women

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 24, 2007

C’è sempre la solita elegiaca “bellezza” mielosa nei dischi di Rabih Abou-Khalil, libanese trapiantato a Monaco di Baviera dai tempi della guerra civile di trent’anni fa e discusso suonatore di oud dei tempi che corrono. Bella la copertina, come quasi tutte le precedenti quindici della sua storia discografica, belli i “suoni”, come in quasi tutti i precedenti quindici lavori, intelligente la scelta dei musicisti che lo accompagnano, come quasi tutte le precedenti quindici volte, divertente ed irriverente l’humour che lo ...

Rabih Abou-Khalil / Joachim K: Journey to the Centre of an Egg

by Jim Santella
March 28, 2006

With a program of compositions by Rabih Abou-Khalil and Joachim Kühn, Journey to the Centre of an Egg shifts to various parts of the globe, combining mainstream jazz with world music. Most of the flavor in their creations centers on the Middle Eastern tradition. This comes as no surprise, since Abou-Khalil was born in Lebanon and lived there until adulthood. But the session also includes flavors from other areas, including Spain, the Caribbean, South Africa, and parts of South America.