Ruba Shamshoum is a Palestinian musician, born and raised in Nazareth and currently living in Dublin, Ireland. Ruba’s music draws from the harmony, sensibility, improvisation, and playfulness of jazz, mixed with tinges of Middle Eastern and Arabic musical elements that compliment her style and bring it to unique and distinctive places. In 2011, Ruba dove into music, and made it her profession; She studied jazz performance at Newpark Music Centre, wrote music for film (When I Saw You), released a few singles that generated much acclaim and were a part of top indie charts in the Middle East and North Africa, performed in international festivals in Ireland, the UK and the Middle East, and gave a TED talk about finding your own distinctive voice in music and art. In May 2017, Ruba released her debut album ‘Shamat’ (Beauty Spots), written and arranged by her. In the album, she deals with identity, anger, escapism, lack of communication, fear, and love. Each song on the album explores different shades of emotion.
Though a graduate of Dublin's Newpark Music Centre in jazz performance, Ruba Shamshoum's delightful debut CD doesn't fall neatly into any particular category. What does these days? The Palestinian-born, Dublin-based singer infuses elements of jazz with her Middle Eastern roots on these nine originals, ably backed by some of the country's finest musicians, who straddle the fields of contemporary jazz, folk and improvised music. A little of all these strands percolate through the compositions. Shamshoum delivers most of the songs ...
“Ruba’s songs have strong narratives about exile, hope and love. Her distinct jazz influences allowed space to flourish with a band drawn from the elite of the Dublin jazz scene.” Hot Press
“Vocalist and composer Ruba Shamshoum represents the crest of a new wave in Irish creative music.” Cormac Larkin, The Irish Times
“Quite simply, it’s one of the most brilliantly adventurous records you’ll hear this year - so make sure and get in on the ground floor as Ruba’s rise commences...” Peter McGoran, Hot Press
"For us, the artist discovery of the year. The Dublin-based Palestinian musician and vocalist has given us hours of boundless joy whistling (badly) to her tunes. A must listen, she is quality through and through.” Dandin
“Ruba’s songs have strong narratives about exile, hope and love. Her distinct jazz influences allowed space to flourish with a band drawn from the elite of the Dublin jazz scene.” Hot Press
“Vocalist and composer Ruba Shamshoum represents the crest of a new wave in Irish creative music.” Cormac Larkin, The Irish Times
“Quite simply, it’s one of the most brilliantly adventurous records you’ll hear this year - so make sure and get in on the ground floor as Ruba’s rise commences...” Peter McGoran, Hot Press
"For us, the artist discovery of the year. The Dublin-based Palestinian musician and vocalist has given us hours of boundless joy whistling (badly) to her tunes. A must listen, she is quality through and through.” Dandin
“Jazzy, soulful and heart-felt, her catchy compositions are infectiously delightful. Her formal jazz training is evident in the improvised vocal scat she peppers into her songs that creates a beautifully vintage atmosphere of a bygone era.” Mideast Tunes
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