Beirut Music and Art Festival from 18 May til 12 June 2011 - Summer Program
Tickets on Sale @ Virgin Megastore 01 999666
Delivery Tickets @ Concierge Master 01 999055
More information on http://www.beirutmaf.com

The Incompetents / Beirut Vibes / Marc Ernest Trio
18.05.11- 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Guitarist/singer Serge Yared started The Incompetents as a musical project with Fadi Tabbal (arranger, producer, multi-instrument player) in 2007. The group came to life almost by accident when, as Yared says, “I was singing with my distinctive out-of-tune voice at Fadi’s Tunefork Recording Studio when he suggested to record an alternative folk album”.
Their album ‘More Songs from the Victorious City’ (2008) is a mixed bag of 1960’s type ballads blended with Captain Beefheart tuneless rants with hints of prog-rock. The band’s visual identity, created by Feel Collective’s Alfred Tarazi, is a legendary monster mascot called Roro.

Pop will save us / Gros Bras / Avo Tutunjian & Friends with Yervand Margaryan from Yerevan
19.05.118:30 pm - 9:30 pm

The Pop will Save Us project started with a residency program at Academy Shloss Solitude Stuttgart in 2006, where the eponym EP was written and produced at Sumsilobatem Studios by Ziad Saad.

The Foolosophers / Kool Quartet / Jagodzinski Trio
20.05.11 - 8:30 pm - 9:30pm

Three foolosophers and a man with sticks, brought together to form a band, were found instead sitting on a table, foolosophizing about the foolosophy of music. X glasses of ginger tea later, the non-foolosopher raised a sustainable question: What to name the band?
The foolosophy-less question obviously did not echo in the minds of the three foolosophers, who went on sipping ginger tea and foolosophizing about the foolosophy of music.

JLP / Eileen Khatchadourian / Force
21.05.11 - 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm

JLP, a ?ve-piece band that has been around for four years, is specialized in bringing its audience the best music from the past three decades, with songs by bands ranging from Pink Floyd to Nickelback.
A purely acoustic experience, JLP is comprised of Boudy Boustany on vocals, Ghassan Bouz on percussion, Ramzi Ramman on guitar and vocals, Joe Mokbel on bass, and Ziad Ramman on additional percussion.

Arthur Satyan Organ Trio with special guest Larry Coryell / Aufgang
22.05.11- 8:30 pm - 10:30 pm

Arthur Satyan is one of the most important and in?uential jazz musicians in the region.
He was the pianist that Jazz stars like Larry Coryell, John Hicks, Charles Davis and Sonny Fortune came to Beirut eager to meet, hear and play with. Dean of Jazz Department and Professor of Classical Piano at the Lebanese National Conservatory of Music since 1998, he taught, in?uenced and inspired almost every jazz musician in the country.
Arthur has performed with many jazz masters like Larry Coryell, Charles Davis, Ray Vega, Ed Cherry, Joe Lee Wilson, just to name a few. In this project, with special guest star guitarist Larry Coryell and Fouad Afra on drums, Arthur appears for the ?rst time as a jazz organist.

Adonis / Fareeq Al Atrash / Madina
23.05.11- 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Adonis is a collaboration between six young Lebanese musicians with a very diverse and eclectic baggage of musical in?uences.
The band got together in summer 2010, and has been experimenting ever since with language and music, composing, performing and recording, in a constant search for an authentic sound that would highly appeal to the local popular culture, and yet maintain their artistic integrity and vision.
The band’s ?rst studio album is to be released in July 2011.

Nadine has got Soul / Who Killed Bruce Lee / Meen the Band
24.05.11- 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Nadine and her band have been a ?xture on the Lebanese scene, playing around clubs, bars, private parties and festivals for over 10 years. Her band followed the maturing of its lead vocalist from rock powerhouse to soul diva, and became the ?rst band in Lebanon to introduce the funk grooves of such luminaries as Maceo Parker, Parliament and Tower of Power.
Nadine Has Got Soul! is a leading part of this burgeoning soul movement, that is bringing exciting music to thrilled and hungry audiences in jazz clubs, dance ?oors and festivals all around the country

Homemade / Melon Portion / Perfect Match
25.05.11- 8:30 pm - 9:45 pm

Homemade have been around since 2002, but it was only in 2006 that the current formation was established. The most valuable asset of Homemade is their constant young and fun spirit; all members are still college students.
Although there are different musical tastes within the band, Homemade always manage to take a song and cover it in a way that satisfies all members, resulting in a unique and “homemade” sound, making it enjoyable by any kind of crowd. Homemade covers everything from Beatles to Michael Jackson to 30 seconds to Mars, and even writes original songs hoping that one day an original Homemade album will be made

Sima / Zeid and the Wings / The Kordz
26.05.11- 8:30 pm - 9:45 pm

I’m eighteen, I’ve been singing for 7 years, and I’ve been writing music for 5 years. Some of my music is mellow, some is heavy. I’d say I’m mainly in?uenced by folk, rock and alternative, and some jazz; both old and new. If I were to describe my lyrical fashion in one word I guess I’d call it “psychological”.
My voice changes at times depending on what it is I’m singing. My main focus is emoting words, rather than just delivering them straight. I still haven’t ?nished recording my album, I only have a few tracks done.
My performance experience in itself is minimal, however my musical experience is quite the opposite.

Al McKay All Stars Earth Wind & Fire Experience
27.05.11- 8:30 pm

Boogie Wonderland, Fantasy, September, Devotion; EWF have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone has described them as “innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing” and has also declared that the band “changed the sound of black pop”. Al McKay was responsible not only for a lion’s share of the group’s instantly recognizable sound, but was also writer and co-writer on some of their most enduring hits. EWF are performing with 12 musicians.

Sister Sledge
27.05.11- 8:30 pm

Tickets at Contest, Festival,, Music
Sister Sledge are established as one of the world’s most legendary and successful female groups. Their album, ‘We Are Family’ soared past the platinum mark, reaching the top of both pop and R&B charts. Over the years, Sister Sledge has brought their spirit to fans on all continents, sold millions of albums and has earned many awards, including prestigious Grammy’s.

Thagara / Pindoll / Sandmoon
28.05.11- 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm

A surprising fusion of improvised [scattered] pieces to be revisited in different contexts
Members:
Assil Ayyash | Vocals
Vladimir Kurumilian | Piano
Karim Khneisser | Percussions
Karim Farah | Lyrics

Ilham al Madfai
29.05.11- 8:30 pm

Ilham al-Madfai is an Iraqi guitarist, singer and composer. Madfai’s synthesis of Western guitar stylings with traditional Iraqi music has made him a revered and popular artist in his native country and throughout the Middle East. Beginning in 1999, Madfai released a string of albums on EMI’s Arabia label, including the platinum self-titled Ilham al-Madfai (1999), Live at the Hard Rock Cafe (2001), Baghdad (2003) and Dishdasha (2009). He has been nicknamed ‘the Baghdad Beatle‘.

Myli & Kaa / Myli DJ Set
29.05.11- 8:30 pm

When electro-punk singer Myli (Mayaline, from Lumi) and music-producer Kaa (Tribal Vision | Air Snare) merged into a melodic journey, it was most evident that these two old friends would succeed in inspiring each other and bringing the most out of their talent, by breaking musical boundaries and delivering an unexpected forward thinking genre.
They achieved addictive cinematic soundtracks constructed around Mayaline’s poetico-lyrical background and melodies, and blended with Kaa’s very own conception of contemporary technological music.
Add to it an illustration of the whole set by Tony J. Khoueiry’s hallucinating graphical world, the result is no less than a sound and visual odyssey.

Bluesman Band / The Real Deal Blues Band / Chady & the Band featuring Mimi Naja
30.05.11- 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Nazih Moussallem is the leader, vocalist and lead guitarist of the band. He was the pioneer in introducing Live Blues music in Lebanon back in 1992 by forming the ?rst Blues Band with Samir Attieh, a music teacher and a reference in Blues music. Nazih went on playing and promoting the Blues till today and opened seven different Blues clubs throughout his Blues career.
Today and after a two-year trip to the Gulf States region, Nazih is back to pursue the Blues in Lebanon. He formed the present Band a couple of months ago and performs at Bar Louie every other Thursday

Roger Hodgson Band (Former Supertramp)
31.05.11- 8:30 pm

“The highest compliment that Roger can be paid is that he probably sounds better live today than in the recording studio more than ageneration ago.” – Evening Standard – London, Review from Royal Albert Concert. Roger Hodgson is recognized as one of the most gifted composers, songwriters and lyricists of our time! As the legendary voice, writer and arranger of most of Supertramp’s greatest hits that led to more than 60 million record sales, he gave us amazingly enduring songs like: “Give a Little Bit,” “Dreamer,” “It’s Raining Again”, “Take the Long Way Home”, “The Logical Song,” “Breakfast In America,” “Fool’s Overture” and so many others that have become the sound track of our lives. Hodgson co-founded the progressive rock band Supertramp in 1969 and was with them for 14 years.

Episode / Amy Smack Daddy / The Arcane
01.06.11- 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Originally created in 2007, EpiSode found its structure in July 2009 with its two pillars: Avo Demirdjian and John Laham. On June 2010, Karnig Baghdassarian joined the band as it’s third member. True to its own style of experimental music, EpiSode’s original compositions unite elements drawn from classical and orchestral soundtrack to metal music.
Each arrangement is artistically inspired from different events in life. From the moment of birth to the ?nal breath, EpiSode’s musical pieces represent milestones of experiences in life from joy to sorrow, loss or success, to feelings of love and hate. Episode’s compositions follow through a progression of experiences leading to the ultimate moment of emotional surrender that shape us from who we are to what we become. The ?nal outcome is an exploration of musical structures laced with intricate patterns and textures, forming into an auditory experience and communication between EpiSode’s musicians and its audience. Currently recording their ?rst album, it is expected to be release by the end of 2011

Liquid Trio / Walid Tawil / Tabasco
02.06.11- 8:30 pm - 9:40 pm

Coming from different backgrounds, the three musicians combine different types of music creating a unique contemporary sound.
Members:
Basel Rajoub | Saxophone
Jean Madani | Bass Guitar
Fouad Afra | Drums

Michelle & Noel Keserwany / Rayess Bek / Band Jaze’e
03.06.11- 8:30pm - 9:45 pm

Publicity students, Michelle & Noel Keserwany,
who grew up in an artistic background, have been constantly inspired by society and its marvels. Two sisters, who work as freelance illustrators along with their studies, are extremely similar yet each one of them tends to be distinct in her own way. Whatever they absorb from around them is later on exteriorized in artistic form.
After the accidental success of “Jagal el USEK”, that gathered around 350,000 views on YouTube, the sisters released their debut album Bel Ghalat “Jagal el USEK and 9 Other Tracks”, an artwork that turned out to be a mixture of lyrics, music, illustration and design, through which they expressed their point of view about the Lebanese society in a very sarcastic manner.

Soumaya Baalbaki
04.06.11- 8:30 pm

In one sentence, Arabtango shows that the Latin American lovers’ expressive sadness (of which tango is the utmost accomplishment) goes along well with Arabic, a language that has at least 3 different words for the expression “passionate love”. In Arabtango, Soumaya Ba’albaki adapts classic Arabic tango songs like, giving them new life and making it available for the new generations.
Every melody combines Soumaya’s tearing voice with an unconventional mix of “sad” music played in “happy” tones. The final result is not necessarily tango, but it is really good. In other words, if you think that Andrés Calamaro perverted and destroyed tango in “Tinta Roja”, do yourself a favor and refrain from listening Arabtango.

Natacha Atlas
04.06.11- 8:30 pm

The Anglo-Egyptian singer Natacha Atlas has spent more than a decade fusing electronic beats with North African and Arabic music, working with a wealth of like-minded collaborators from across the world. Her work has been building up to the subtle beauty of the brand new album ever since 2008’s internationally acclaimed acoustic, orchestral album Ana Hina, in which Atlas refocused her work towards the music of Lebanese stars Fairuz and the Rahbani brothers, Egyptian Abdel Halim Hafez. Recently recording her 8th album, Mounqaliba (“being in a state of reversal” in classical Arabic), with artists such as pianist Zoe Rahman, a 20-piece Turkish ensemble and a chamber orchestra integrating western and Arabic styles, she has produced a stunning set of original new songs, evocative interludes and a limpid, lucid reading of Nick Drake’s The Riverman, as well as excerpts of classical Arabic poetry, using the orchestral style classical of the Rahbani brothers.

Lena Chamamyan
05.06.11- 8:30 pm

Lena Chamamyan is a Syrian singer of Armenian descent. Born in Damascus, she started singing at an early age giving her first concert when she was five years old. Classic was mixed with oriental jazz and Armenian music to reflect the unique essence of Lena’s style as a vocalist. She was charmed from the very beginning by the idea of mixing simple oriental tunes with cords. Several friends from the high institution of music helped Lena understand and conceptualize the project, the first of whom was Basel Rajoub who arranged and managed her music.
In September 2006 Lena Chamamyan and Basel Rajoub were declared winners of the first Radio Monte Carlo Moyen-Orient Music Award at the Al Hussein Cultural Centre in Amman, Jordan. In May 2007 Lena launched her new album entitled ‘Shamat’ at Al Hamra Theater in Damascus.

Al Di Meola World Sinfonia
08.06.11- 8:30 pm

Al Di Meola: A bona fide guitar hero, perennial poll-winner and virtuoso of the highest order, Al Di Meola has also been recognized over the past 30 years as a prolific composer and respected artist with over 20 recordings as a leader. Di Meola began rehearsing new music with his New World Sinfonia band in preparation for a coast-to-coast tour of the States in the early part of 2009, followed by whirlwind tours of Europe and the Middle East. Di Meola performs with his bandmates in the New World Sinfonia –Fausto Beccalossi on accordion, Peo Afonsi on acoustic guitar, Peter Kaszas on percussion, Gumbi Ortiz on percussion, Victor Miranda on bass.

Tania Kassis
10.06.11- 8:30 pm

Discover the Ethno-Lyric Singer, interpretor of the famous “Islamo-Christian AVE” and granted the Lebanese Accomplishment Medal, in a new World Music Fusion repertoire ranging from Jazz to Bossa Nova & Tango mixed to an Oriental flavour.
In 2009, Tania Kassis presented 2 Islamo-Christian Concerts in Paris & in Beirut. She composed for this occasion an “Islamo-Christian AVE” (an Ave Maria mixed with the Muezzin “Allah Akbar”. On February 14th 2010, Tania Kassis has been asked by the Lebanese Prime Minister Mr Saad Hariri to sing the Islamo-Christian AVE at the Martyr Square during the big commemoration of Rafic Hariri’s death in front of more than 200,000 persons. Following this performance, the Pope Benoît XVI asked the Prime Minister to send him a copy of this common prayer!

Marcel, Rami and Bachar Khalife
11.06.11- 8:30 pm

They came together through music. Through their fondness for innovation and their desire to transcend boundaries. They came together through an awareness, surrounded by hazards.
They bonded in world’s of musicality and humanity, resonating between poles of attraction and contention, between, love and opposition.
They are inspired by the freedom to choose and experiment, to travel, carrying their memories, to new places resplendent with the colors of life and humanity. Marcel, Rami, and Bachar Khalifé are engaged today in a new journey of togetherness and joint artistic work that began in the year 2000 when both Rami and Bachar joined Al Mayadine Ensemble that Marcel established in the late 1970s.

Goran Bregovic
12.06.11- 8:30 pm

Goran Bregovic is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Balkans. Bregovic has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesária Évora. Among his better known scores are , Arizona Dream, Underground & Borat. Bregovic’s compositions, extending Balkan musical inspirations to innovative extremes, draw upon European classicism and Balkan rhythms. Bregovic’s music carries Balkan themes and is a fusion of popular music with traditional polyphonic music from the Balkans, tango and brass bands. Best known hits are
Underground Cocek / Kalachnikov /Mesecina / Green Thought / Wedding/ So Nevo Si / Sex / Maki