Arabesque Music Ensemble

I met these amazing musicians this weekend, here from the East Coast. I felt like I was transported back in time, and experienced an actual Umm Kulthum. Hanna Khoury and Kareem Roustom blew me a way. You have to check out their cd and concerts! Plus, Kareem was the composer for the film, Encounter Point (a must see too!), with Hanna playing too. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am an a huge Umm Kulthum fan and all I can say is that you have to hear this to believe it.

FROM THEIR WEBSITE: http://www.arabesquemusicensemble.com/home.html

“The Arabesque Foundation for Arab Culture is proud to announce a nationwide CD release tour, al-Fursan at-Talatha (the “Three Musketeers”). The concert tour features the Arabesque Music Ensemble (formerly the Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble).

Al-Fursan at-Talatha features the music of Muhammad al-Qasabji, Zakariyya Ahmad, and Riyad al-Sunbati, who composed the majority of the repertoire for legendary Egyptian vocalist Umm Kulthum during the “golden age” of Arabic music in the 1930s and 1940s.

The “Three Musketeers” CD is the second recording of historical significance from the Arabesque Music Ensemble, following the 2006 release of “The Songs of Sheikh Sayyed Darweesh: Soul of a People.” This CD was named one of the “top-ten world music recordings” by the Boston Globe/WNYC. Peter Margasak of the Chicago Reader has deemed the new CD “a second great record,” citing its “elegant classical influence” and stating that the AME is “a really meticulously-organized group that recreates this music with incredible precision and clarity.”