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basel rajoub

saxophone player composer

About Me

Basel Rajoub is a Syrian saxophone player with a difference. Aleppo-born and Swiss-based graduate of Damascus High Institute of Music, Basel is a consummate performer, skilled improviser, and highly original composer creating new music that is rooted in a thousand-year-old tradition. Basel is known for developing oriental music for the saxophone and is dedicated to helping his audience discover contemporary expression of myriad melodic modes of Arabic music. An innovator both on stage and in the studio, Basel performs as a solo artist and a leader of the Basel Rajoub Ensemble. “…performing on instruments that are not native to the Middle East, this artist exemplifies the talent, achievement, and breadth of a rising generation of cosmopolitan Arab musicians who combine jazz, classical music, the microtonal subtleties and myriad melodic modes of Arabic music.” “… their music represents a sublime mix of spontaneity and control rooted in a thousand-year-old tradition of improvisation. Such music could only have emerged from artists whose own musical journeys have zigzagged back and forth between the Middle East and the West in unique ways, creating music that is at once seamless and surprising.” Solo albums: Khameer (Composer, arranger, lead soloist) 2010 Asia (Composer, arranger, lead soloist) 2012, 2013 (international releases) Albums: Asmar Ellon* (Composer, arranger, performer) 2005 Shamat (Composer, arranger, performer) 2007 Kasaed Syaseh (Composer, arranger, performer) 2012 * Asmar Ellon declared Winner, Radio Monte Carlo Moyen Orient Award 2006 Film scores: Roubama (2012), directed by Rakan Mayassi (Jordan). Feature film selection by Locarno Film Festival, Beirut International Film Festival and London Documentary Film Festival Bb 2012 directed by Lamis Al Mouhammad, Syria