Reem Kelani in Concert

Organisation: The Arab British Centre

Time: 07 October 2010 8:00pm - 9:30pm

Place: The Brunei Gallery, SOAS

The Arab British Centre is delighted to present Palestinian singer, musician and broadcaster Reem Kelani in concert.

 "a voice to be reckoned with...a feisty rapport with her audience.” Simon Broughton, The Evening Standard

"an energy that evokes sympathetic vibrations through whole communities." Brian Robinson, MusicWeaver

For the past decade, three times award nominated Palestinian singer, musician and broadcaster Reem Kelani has been working with some of the best British Jazz musicians, introducing them to and training them in Arabic music. She has toured extensively with her band, in the UK and internationally.

Reem has also brought musicians together, extending her UK based line-up on international tours to include musicians from Syria, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Portugal. Following her acclaimed British Council tour in Syria in 2007, Reem's “Anglo-Syrian” band performed in Turkey in October 2009, has a North African premiere in Morocco in September 2010, and will perform at the Asian Games 2010 in Guangzhou, China, alongside Lebanese singer Ghada Shbeir and the Whirling Dervishes of Damascus. Reem’s profile in the Arab and non Arab world continues to grow, all the more to her credit as an unsigned artist who has preserved her independence, musically, spiritually and politically.

Reem’s forthcoming album, due for release in mid-2011 is a tribute to the great Egyptian composer Sayyid Darwish (1892 – 1923). She has been working on this project for the past seven years, conducting field trips to Egypt, Syria and Turkey as part of her research. Some of the new songs will form part of Reem’s live repertoire on the night alongside songs from her acclaimed debut album “Sprinting Gazelle”.

Watch Reem perform the title track of her album "Sprinting Gazelle, with the

Turkish collective Kardes Turkuler and Armenian musician Arto Tunçboyaciyan 2009.

Thursday, 7 October 2010 at 8pm (doors open 7.30pm)

The Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street London WC1H 0XG

Ticket Price: £15/£10 conc (students and over 60s).

Press Reviews

“If anyone can do it, that person is Reem Kelani. She has a genius for finding the universal in the particular. Her album, Sprinting Gazelle, introduced jazz musicians to Middle Eastern modes and was pure and profound. The 'f' word ('fusion') doesn't even apply.” Mike Butler, Metro *****

“A lovely stillness pervades this album, whose illuminating English-Arabic liner notes are a work of art in themselves.” Michael Church, BBC Music Magazine *****

“When she told me earlier that she did not see any difference between jazz and Arabic music, it sounded a stretch; here, for a moment, the two spin together so fast they sound like one.” David Honigmann, Financial Times

“I thought, there she is, Reem Kelani, pouring every milligram of her being into this performance, her audience rapt, transported before her, and there's this precious, non-violent force transmuting a mouthful of air into articulate energy, an energy that evokes sympathetic vibrations through whole communities, giving hope and strength, lifting human spirits from out of their dark times.” Brian Robinson, Musicweaver