DHAHRAN: On a cool, breezy Dhahran night, the Cuban-Khaleeji Project brought its fusion of musical cultures to Ithra on Thanksgiving.
Originally commissioned by The Arts Center at New York University Abu Dhabi in early 2019, this is the first time an audience has heard the ensemble play live outside of New York and the UAE. The final performance at the Ithra Theater will take place on Nov. 25.
“The show is a rediscovery of friendships, roots, and relationships that have their source in ancient realities — and in the future. And I can prove this because when I first met Ghazi Al-Mulaifi, I could have sworn I’d known him my whole life,” Grammy-winning jazz musician Arturo O’Farrill told the crowd on opening night.
O’Farrill was referring to the Kuwaiti-American professor of music and his all-male jazz band Boom.Diwan — named after ‘The Boom,’ an important Kuwaiti ship used for pearl diving — who helped him bring some of the sounds of the sea to life on the Ithra stage.
O’Farrill, born in Mexico and raised in NYC, brought a flair and consistency to the sounds throughout the evening. He has been a fierce advocate for the preservation of Afro-Cuban culture for decades — following in the footsteps of his Havana-born father. Together with the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, the younger O’Farrill has worked to push the boundaries of the sounds of Cuba to bring them to the world.
The show, which lasted almost two hours, was followed by a Q&A session hosted by Energy Radio. Bill Bragin, who is the first artistic director of The Arts Center at NYUAD was on the panel.
Bragin told the crowd how the project originated. While in NYC some time ago, he said, he was immersed in the music of the region and was introduced to Al-Mulaifi’s music.
“A few years later, I went to Kuwait to see the group and, right around the same time, I was going to Cuba for the first time and I was reading a book by an author named Ned Sublette, called ‘Cuba and its Music.’ And, usually, you think a book like that is going to start in Africa, but actually it started talking about Arabic music and poetry and the influence around Andalusia, and then into Africa,” he explained. “And I started thinking, ‘There’s something here.’”
Bragin recognized that the music from various areas — including Cuba and Kuwait — were, in essence, sounds that were extracted from nature, especially the sea. He then started to assemble a way to create a unique sound through which he could channel the sonic connections which have been there for centuries. His challenge was to bring them to a contemporary audience in a cohesive way.
The Ithra performance included Yazz Ahmed, the Bahraini trumpeter and composer, who was clearly at ease on stage, nodding to her fellow musicians, part-conductor part-player. Her graceful movements and slick sounds could not be ignored.
But the undoubted star was Emirati oud player Ali Obaid, from Fujairah. His elegant performance captivated the crowd, and was complemented beautifully by the other musicians, who elevated his playing, but never competed with it.
The award-winning Moroccan ‘enchantress’ Malika Zarra completely shifted the show’s energy, the audience instantly became livelier and more spirited in response to her wild hair, infectious smile, dainty dance and powerful voice. The clapping was constant as her singing turned to scat and she seamlessly transitioned from faster to slower melodies.
The grand finale was when the show’s Cuban sounds were fully highlighted. All of the performers returned to the stage for the final song, “Desert,” which expertly showcased the talents and strengths of each of them and left the audience thirsty for more.
Tickets for the show start at SR100 ($26) and can be purchased on the Ithra website or app.
