joint projects
With Kardes Türküler
Alongside Arto Tunçboyaciyan, Reem performed as a guest of Kardes Turkuler in their spectacular annual show at the Turkcell Kuruçesme Arena, Istanbul, 30 June 2009.
Go to Audio & Video to see Reem perform the title track of her album "Sprinting Gazelle": live in concert, 30 June 20
Go to Audio & Video to watch Reem singing Ya Raayhin al-Nabi with Kardes Turkuler: live broadcast, 27 June 2009
With Selim Sesler
Reem performed a special set at the Babylon, Istanbul, alongside the legendary Turkish clarinettist, Selim Sesler, and other Turkish musicians, November 2008.
From Palestine to Portugal
With Fado singer Liana, Reem explored the historical links between Arabic and Fado music. Funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation & Visiting Arts, the project had its world premiere at the Musicport Festival, Bridlington, October 2008.
To listen to an excerpt from the performance, click here: Naufrágio / 'Aashiqun min Filasteen (Shipwreck / Lover from Palestine)
Lyrics: Cecilia Meireles / Mahmoud Darwish
Music: Alain Oulman / Reem Kelani
Arranged by Reem Kelani, Liana & David Beebee (PRS for Music) (10.15 MB)
Musicians:
David Beebee, piano
Ricardo Parreira, Portuguese guitarra
Ryan Trebilcock, double bass
John Blease, drums
THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE OF "FROM PALESTINE TO PORTUGAL" AT THE TABERNACLE, NOTTING HILL GATE ON MONDAY 7TH DECEMBER.
With Bruno Heinen
Reem is currently working with classical and jazz pianist and composer Bruno Heinen on a special duo project. The project includes new arrangements of Arabic songs and jazz workings of Arabic poetry and prose translated into English and performed in English.
A Gharaids, BBC Alba
Working with Gaelic singer, Catriona Watt, Reem produced and performed a new arrangement of traditional Gaelic and Palestinian songs for A Gharaids, a series of programmes looking at the state of Gaelic music which was made for BBC Alba, the Gaelic television channel, May 2008.
Musicians:
Mary Ann Kennedy, clarsach & vocals
David Beebee, keyboard & electric bass
Findlay Napier, guitar
Fariborz Kiani, tombak, daff
A Gharaids was nominated for the Media Award in the MG ALBA Traditional Music Awards 2009.
Go to Audio & Video to watch Reem and Catriona in song: studio performance for BBC Alba
The Beating Wing Orchestra
A special commission from the Manchester International Festival, Reem composed "Paradise in Strangers", and rehearsed and performed it at the festival with the BWO, comprising refugee musicians, on 8 July 2007. This composition encompasses melodic modes and rhythmic patterns from the wide diversity of origins of the orchestra members. Very much like the motions of a dhow boat, this work will take you on a journey across oceans and between continents, in which migration, suffering, parting, reunion and celebration are recurrent as well as universal themes. The work also features poetry and prose written by Reem and members of the orchestra. Together with poetic texts by Robert Burns (A Slave's Lament) and Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Rootless), the group has created a textual template for a narrative structured around the historic pain of slavery and the collective yearning of rootlessness.
"The true test of the music is whether the detail - provided by, among others, second-generation British Pakistani tabla player Azhar Nasir, Chinese opera singer Haili Heaton, Iranian tar player Arrash Fayyazi, drummer Pat Mackela from the Congo, singer Emmanuela Machozi Yogolelo (ditto) - adds up to a coherent artistic statement. The danger is that it curdles in a formless multicultural pudding.
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
Listen to the performance movement by movement:
Paradise in Strangers - Introduction (2.14 MB)
Paradise in Strangers First Movement - Mountain Chant (8.45 MB)
Paradise in Strangers Second Movement - The Parting (6.41 MB)
Paradise in Strangers Third Movement - Question and Answer on Love (8.06 MB)
Paradise in Strangers Fourth Movement - Dhow Boat Speaks (5.5 MB)
Paradise in Strangers Fifth Movement - A Manchester Ballad (7.32 MB)
Paradise in Strangers - Encore (7.54 MB)
***
Click here to read Paradise in Strangers' poetic texts
Click here to see Mike Butler's review in the Manchester Metro, 10 July 2007
Click here to see Zannah Ingraham's review for BBC Manchester
Click here for background on Paradise in Strangers and the Beating Wing Orchestra
2007, Manchester International Festival
Photograph courtesy of Community Arts North West