Often recorded yearly on the well-known Joe’s pub in New York, the Habibi Competition, which promotes music from the Arab world and was co-founded by the Franco-Tunisian saxophonist Yacine Boularès, has been moved, for one night, to Prospect Park, as a part of the Rejoice Brooklyn BRIC Competition. With over 4 hours of live shows and DJ units, the occasion was an enormous success, with over 3,000 individuals coming to find sounds and artists that aren’t but identified on this aspect of the Atlantic. Reporting from Brooklyn.
It is 4:30 p.m., lower than two hours earlier than the entrances to Prospect Park, THE park in Brooklyn, open. Yacine BoularèsMeera Dugal, co-founders of Fèis Habibi, and the remainder of the massive BRIC group smiling, excited for his or her first look in New York Metropolis.
After a number of years of ready, Fèis Habibi was invited, for a night, to one of many primary occasions within the cultural lifetime of the town that by no means sleeps, Fèis Rejoice Brooklyn BRIC. ” It’s a nice window of visibility, a fantastic alternative to have the ability to draw consideration, and make individuals take heed to and discover out about Arab artists, from the diaspora or from the nations of SWANA (South East West Asia and North Africa). », laughs the Franco-Tunisian saxophonist, “ we’ve got been ready for this for a very long time, and now we simply need to have a very good night for the greater than 3,000 individuals who had been anticipated ».
The doorways open, a whole bunch of curious individuals rush to the few chairs obtainable, and households sit within the inexperienced areas across the stage. The keffiyehs are out, in addition to a number of dozen Palestinian flags, and the sensation is of fine nature, between the completely different generations and folks from the 4 corners of the area the place range is the important thing phrase. ” Within the present context, we additionally need to deliver some balm to individuals’s hearts, and to spotlight the humanity of the Arab individuals too usually forgotten or deeply wounded, much more so by the present state of affairs in Palestine. » explains Boularès, “ Fèis Habibi is a method to speak about this a part of the world and its richness ».
It is 6:30pm, and the group is letting off steam, dancing to a DJ set from the Yalla Social gathering Venture, a gaggle from New York that mixes gwana and raï sounds, but in addition Egyptian pop from the 80s, and later he found Yacine Boularès and her ensemble, along with the Palestinian singer Mona Miari, Felukah, an Egyptian artist, and the multi-instrumentalist and essential musician of Palestinian music in the US , Zafer Tawil.
The gang vastly praises a number of phrases of peace and a name for recognition of the Palestinian state, and round 3,500 individuals who got here pay attention religiously to Miari, and her voice is so delicate and deep. ” I had no concept, and to be trustworthy with you, I used to be shocked, in a great way! » encourages Yamina, of Syrian origin, and her daughter, Sandra, who loves Arab cultures, ” his voice, and his tone, contact the soul, I do not know learn how to clarify it. Go searching you, there’s a sturdy feeling of solidarity and love, and that’s additionally why the Habibi Competition is a vital occasion, as a result of individuals have no idea sufficient in regards to the Arab world, its historical past and its cultural affect, together with music ».
Proceed to develop, and go round the remainder of the nation
Evening has fallen on the Large Apple, and behind the scenes, the Franco-Moroccan rock group gwana Bab’L’Bluz preparing, regardless of the fatigue of a brief night time, getting back from yesterday’s live performance in Canada. The 2 leaders of the group, Brice and Yusra, have a smile as they give the impression of being by the curtains to take the temperature of a crowd that’s utterly immersed within the Arab music world. ” Seeing so many individuals and their enthusiasm is a superb feeling » laughs Brice, who cannot sit nonetheless, to introduce their rock type to the viewers and the infinite vitality of the sounds of the Moroccan devices they use.
The primary riffs immediate “ oh » and « ahhh sihh “and others” woooo » from the spectators, who additionally respect the experimental aspect of the group within the black t-shirt. “ We wished to program the Habibi Competition by insisting that we wished a mixture of outdated conventional sounds, but in addition trendy Arab music, comparable to Palestinian rap and Bab’L’Bluz, which remains to be a really distinctive group in comparison with what individuals count on from Arab music! » explains Viviana Benitez, lead producer of the Rejoice Brooklyn BRIC Competition, ” the curiosity in providing completely different kinds can be in a position to deliver collectively listeners and folks of all ages, who’ve completely different musical sensibilities and provides them a novel expertise, which sweeps away virtually all of the musical dynamics of the Arab world and its diaspora. ».
After an hour and fifteen minute set, Yalla Social gathering Venture closes the night with beats wild, and the group begins to depart the park, glad after a night filled with discoveries and feelings. ” We got here to listen to sounds that we didn’t know, and we’re leaving with the sensation that we had spent a chic night, the place we discovered in regards to the Arab world and its magnificence and wealth. », specifying Dylan and his spouse Sophia, aged fifty years dwelling in the neighborhood, ” in such a good context, it was enjoyable to see an evening devoted to solidarity and higher data, and recognition of the Arab world, far too usually criticized in our nation. ».
For Yacine Boularès, the night was a fantastic success, and it clearly reveals that there’s standard curiosity, the thirst to know extra about part of the world that’s not well-known. ” Sincerely, I’ll go away our competition filled with pleasure, with a way of responsibility fulfilled, glad that I obtained a lot love and goodness. animals public » he rejoices. ” It’s yet another step, a step ahead in our course of of constructing music from the Arab world identified on this aspect of the Atlantic, and shifting ahead with our mission to make the Habibi Competition an occasion journey, which we might obtain from Los Angeles to Chicago, through New Orleans for instance. We need to deliver Arabic music to the 4 corners of the US ».
The official web site of the United Nations BRIC celebrates the Brooklyn Competition
2024-07-22 09:05:15
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