WOMAD

Abdullah Chhadeh & Syriana

22:45 7th November on the Gua Gua

Syriana is a musical dialogue between the peoples of the Eastern and Western worlds-about their points of connexion, hopes and fears -of cold war film soundtracks and the yearning for a better future.

60s TV themes, classical and folk songs, from London and Texas to Downtown Damascus.
Think Ry Cooder meeting Fairuz for coffee, Marc Ribot in conversation with Abdel Wahab.
A dialogue of Love, Music, Power and post cold-war Paranoia. Syriana is a trio (though occasionally joined by a percussionist when playing live to become a quartet), it has 3 distinct instrumental voices, Qanun,electric guitar and double bass.

Abdullah Chhadeh is a Syrian Qanun virtuoso from Damascus. Leader of the group Nara, composer, orchestral soloist and recitalist. The Qanun is an Arabic instrument that sounds as mystical and sonorous as the concert harp, as delicate as the virginal and as regal as the harpsicord. Chhadeh's recordings and collaborations have included both solo performances and featured soloist work with Sinead O' Connor, Jocelyn Pook, Natacha Atlas and David Arnold among others.

Dubulah, half Greek, half English, Guitarist, formerly of Transglobal Underground, Temple of Sound, now working under the name Dub Colossus. He has produced written, remixed and featured on many artists recordings and concerts, including Los de Abajo, Rizwan Muazzam Qawwali, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Almamegretta, Cheb I Sabbah, Jah Wobble, Natacha Atlas, The Congos, Enzo Avitabile.

The electric guitar is the distinctive western pop sound of the last 60 years… and Dubulah's approach lends it a new sound that speaks to the Arabic Qanun. From John Lee Hooker to Elvis and the James Bond theme to Asmahan, Abdel Halim Hafez of Egypt and more.

Bernard O'Neill, an Irish Double Bass player. Like a musical Galatian bridge straddling two continents, he has worked with a vast number of well known artists, as well as being a member of Nara with Abdullah.
These include Jeff Buckley, Lorenna Mckennit, Rufus Wainright, Sinead O`Connor, Natacha Atlas. Bernard's technique makes the double bass a very versatile instrument, able to play western and arabic scales, bridging the qanun and the guitar. Syriana is about many levels of music and people, history and politics, sound and identity, joy and sadness, but always with a wry smile on its face.

(Biography supplied by artist)

Nara Biography

Abdullah Chhadeh's compositions speak of the people, places and emotions that have shaped his journey from East to West. Leaving Damascus in 1999 to move to the UK, he has since forged an international career as a qanun soloist and composer of striking technical brilliance and remarkable originality.

Born in Damascus, Syria in 1968, Abdullah's musical talents developed early. He began his education in a camp for refugees in the Golan. A family friend fashioned a small oud (Arabic lute) for him, but when Abdullah first heard the qanun he knew this was the instrument for him.The qanun is an Arabic zither, a complex and beautiful 81-string instrument that traditionally requires a long apprenticeship to master. Chhadeh saw a qanun at a performance when he was 23, fell in love with the instrument, and convinced legendary qanun player Selim Serweh to teach him for two years, at the end of which the master had nothing left to teach his prodigious student. Five years at the Conservatoire of Damascus followed - a time in which Chhadeh honed his considerable skill as a composer, and secured himself a scholarship at London's prestigious Guildhall School of Music.

"Spellbinding", "innovative", "gifted" are words that are time and again used to describe the performances and compositions on which Chhadeh's blossoming international reputation is built. A relentless musical adventurer, Chhadeh has spent the last five years introducing the qanun's distinctive sound to new and occasionally unexpected settings. His versatility, inventiveness and technical brilliance ensure that he is in constant demand as a guest performer. His recordings and collaborations have included both solo performances and featured soloist work with Sinead O'Connor, Jocelyn Pook, Natacha Atlas and David Arnold among others.

Having made his own personal connection to the West, Chhadeh has, with his ensemble 'Nara', developed a sound that blends the unmistakably Arabic qanun with jazzy double bass and Western percussion, as well as its more traditional counterparts, such as the nay (Arabic flute), darbuka, and Oriental accordion. Nara's unique sound has enchanted audiences throughout Europe and Canada, as well as in the Middle East.

His new release Seven Gates features a set of compositions inspired by seven stone portals, once gateways to the ancient Damascus, today part of the modern life of the city. Each gate has its own distinct style and character, both in design and, more importantly, in terms of the life and colour of the communities and landscapes that have developed round them over the centuries. With each composition, Chhadeh builds up a picture of the striking contrasts that make up the landscape of the modern city.

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