Ramzi Salti's Arabology

Lebanese singer Fairuz animated  on Roya TV The popular TV station Roya TV--which uploads most of its programs at   http://www.youtube.com/user/RoyaTV  -- has featured Lebanese singing legend Fairuz in an animated, three minute mini-bio that aired as part of a special daily series titled  أنا بحكيلك القصة  [I Will Tell You a Story].   Here is the clip:  http://youtu.be/Y_DwU0PR5Qs For more info: http://www.roya.tv/ http://www.facebook.com/RoyaTv http://twitter.com/tvRoya الحلقة الثانية والعشرون من أنا بحكيلك القصة الجزء الثالث وفيها قصة فيروز. العمل تلفزيوني كوميدي كرتوني يتم فيه تناول عدد من الأعمال الفنية المشهورة يستخلص منها زبدة موضوعها وتكوينها على شكل رسومات كوميدية مبسطة. تابعوه على قناة رؤيا الفضائية طيلة شهر رمضان ضمن "ساعة ونص كوميديا" الساعة 8:30  مساءً بتوقيت الاردن وبالاعادة الساعة 12:00 بعد منتصف الليل

Michelle and Noel Keserwany: Lebanese duo with a satiric twist Michelle and Noel Keserwany, are sisters, singers, songwriters and illustrators. After the huge, accidental  success of their first satirical song 'Jagal el USEK' [Cool University Dudes] they released other poignantly funny songs about Lebanese society and a CD titled "Belghalat" [By Mistake]--a work that turned out to be a mixture of lyrics, music, illustration, and design, all created by the Keserwany sister themselves. Here is their hit 'Jagal El Usek' (sung by Michelle Kereway) which talks about self-absorbed 'cool dudes' who attend the USEK, a private Catholic higher education institution in Lebanon. http://youtu.be/lgJdeFvMH5A كنت قاعدة بالكافيت ( الكافيه) ما في شي ع بالي عم باشرب نسكافيه إجا شب وقعد قبالي لابس لونيت ( نضارة بالفرنسية) وشعرو مطبس بالجيل قالي بنجورك يا دموزايل انا الشب الكوول باسمع فيفتي سنت سيارتي بتلمع وما باقفي ايفيت ( ما بيفوتني حفل) عندي شاليه وفيلا

After his success at the Merkin Hall in New York city earlier this year, Lebanese musician Mike Massy will be performing at Batroun international Festival in Lebanon on August 10, singing his own repertoire and covers from classics.  The concert will take place on August 10, 2013 and tickets are on sale at all Virgin Box offices in Lebanon. Here is a promotional video for Mike Massy's upcoming concert (http://youtu.be/vNnPhiN8Eto ): This video clip is from the rehearsals for the Batroun International Festival ( http://youtu.be/i5F7RtbNaec ) For more info see  https://www.facebook.com/events/584058771624568/

Maii Waleed Yassin Maii Waleed Yassin is a singer , songwriter and guitarist from Alexandria, Egypt with a unique sound that combines Arabic lyrics with indie pop-rock music. Before launching her new CD Moga (in collaboration with musical genius Zeid Hamdan) Maii was part of an all-female heavy metal band called Mascara and was involved in Ahmad Abdalla’s film “Microphone.”  Here is the title track from the album Moga by The Maii Waleed project featuring Perry Moataz on Bass Guitar and Maii Waleed : Song writing,Guitars and Vocals. Maii Waleed / Moga http://youtu.be/Jjh2PksI8dE Here is a track called 'Hasafer Baeed' with Zeid Hamdan ( http://youtu.be/kaqHdgj8bBE ): Listen to the full album : https://soundcloud.com/maiiandzeid Maii Waleed on Soundlcoud:  https://soundcloud.com/user5051184 Read more about Maii at  http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/bands-watch-maii-waleed-introduces-arabic-dream-pop

Jordanian band Akher Zapheer Akher Zapheer آخر زفير is a Jordanian band that plays Arabic Rock that is inspired by the band's influences including Nirvana, RadioHead, Muse,APC, Pearl Jam and Placebo. The songs are written by the band itself and the lyrics are in Arabic. The band members include Basem Sayej - Vocals/ Guitar, Salem Dallal - Guitar, Mohammed Awwad - Bass, Kayed Qnaibi - Drums. Akher Zapheer's debut album was released in 2012 and is titled "عكس ثقافة" [Converse Culture]. It was produced by Sari Abuladel and contains 11 songs including their hit singles "Akherto lahen hazeen" and "Lailee tal"--both of which are featured below: Akher Zapheer - Akherto Lahen Hazeen آخر زفير - اخرتو لحن حزين ( http://youtu.be/ju3YQqsO7n0 ): Akher Zapheer - Laylee Tal اخر زفير - ليلي طال [Official Video] ( http://youtu.be/C4JBWTogi2Y ) Lyrics to "Laylee tal" كلمات ليلي طال ليلي طال , صفنت بسكون مش جاي النوم, ج

New DVD: Tania Kassis at l'Olympia Lebanese singer Tania Kassis--who made a splash a few years ago by recording her 'Islamo-Christian Ave' in which she mixed the 'Ave Maria' with the Muslim call to prayer-- has just released an elegant DVD of her memorable concert at l'Olympia Paris in 2012 where she performed a variety of songs in Arabic, French, English and Spanish to a sold-out audience. The DVD which is titled 'Tania Kassis" Live at l'Olympia' is available for sale as a set along with a CD of the concert at Lebanon's Virgin Megastores all branches as well as on Tania Kassis' official website www.taniakassis.com (worldwide delivery). Here is a performance from that DVD in which Tania Kassis mixes LA CUMPARSITA with AATINI EL NAYA اعطني الناي وغنّ (lyrics by Kahlil Gibran)  http://youtu.be/FfxJpm8z_-I Here is the closing number from the concert--a song titled 'Trabak Ya Libnan' that is composed by Elias Rahbani

A documentary film and humanitarian project involving Syrian barbers now living in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan as refugees and their attempt to maintain normality in the midst of the Syrian crisis. Here is a short video clip about this film ( http://youtu.be/ziW9rX2Fbd4 ) followed by more info below: Over the course of the last two years, the crisis in Syria has killed over 100,000 people and forced over 2 million people to flee their native land and seek refuge in neighboring countries. As these figures continue to multiply daily, we lose sight of individual suffering, instead absorbed by the sheer, and increasingly abstract, multitude of the crisis. Walk-Ins Welcome aims to personalize the struggles of these refugees through a documentary focused on the barbers of the Zaatari camp. Shadowing them throughout their day, the film will create portraits not just of nameless refugees, but of individuals. A barber serves customers from all walks of life each day and

Jordanian comdienne Rania Kurdi as all of her characters This Ramadan (July 8-August 7, 2013) Arabic TV stations have unveiled a multitude of special shows and series that bank on a record number of viewers during this holy month.  Roya TV is no exception and has premiered a daily comedy show starring Jordanian actress/singer/TV host Rania Kurdi رانيا الكردي who changes personalities every day and plays everything from a conservative housewife to a Russian immigrant in Jordan who flashes both her clothes and sexuality.  In many ways, this seems reminiscent of British comedienne Tracey Ullman who, over the past 2 decades, has made a career out of creating and developing characters that soon take on lives of their own. The 5 characters that Rania Kurdi has created are different from each other yet are all part of the fabric of many Arab societies.  The characters are pictures above (from left to right) in this order:  Um Rami, an athletic housewife who wears the hijab and think

NO Blues (Netherlands) combining Arabic music with folk/blues NO blues is the crossroad where folk-blues and Arabic music meet. In 2004 Ad van Meurs (guitar/ lead vocals), Haytham Safia (Oud, Arabic lute/ lead vocals) and Anne-Maarten van Heuvelen (double bass/ lead vocals) got together to combine American folk blues and traditional Arabic music. Both folk blues and the Arabic taqsim (the improvised interplay without a fixed rhythm) are exceptionally suited for storytelling; the former in a somewhat rawer way, the latter mostly lyrical and melodic. The musicians soon succeeded in finding the crossroad where folk-blues and Arabic music meet. A fusion of Americana and Arabic music, which might best be portrayed as ‘Arabicana’. Heartfelt music with songs about ‘ordinary folks’, love and grief, played and sung in a tradition that is characteristic to both folk blues and Arabic music. Completing the line-up on stage, NO Blues is joined by Ankie Keultjes (vocals) and Osama Maleegi (

The following is taken from To support Mashrou' Leila:  http://www.zoomaal.com/projects/mashr... Raasuk: You've Been Choreographed.  For arabic version of the text, please go to http://www.zoomaal.com/projects/mashr... MESSAGE FROM THE BAND:   http://youtu.be/WU2caaG4CBU We are Mashrou' Leila, a Beirut-based indie band. You can check out some of our music on www.mashrou3leila.com . We got together back in 2008, and we've managed to make it through the last 5 years, getting more and more involved and obsessive about our craft, because of the continued support of our friends, fans, and supporters. We spent the last two years meticulously writing our third album. That's the longest time we've spent writing, because we wanted to create something superior to anything we've released before. While writing, we gigged all over, trying to raise funds for the recording. Then when we finally hit our budget, we flew all the way to Montreal, to record th