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"I still remember..." A movie by the Palestinian musician Adnan Joubran
by Iqbal Tamimi
The Palestinian Trio musicians Adnan, Wissam and Samir Joubran, arrived
at the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish's temple 40 days after his
death. The memories of their last days together, while performing in
Ramallah and Arles. The trio produced a film that will be broadcasted on
Palestine TV at 22.50 tonight (Palestine and Europe time).
I met The Palestinian Oud musicians Le Trio Joubran at St. George’s Concert
Hall in Bristol last year, on Wednesday the 29th of September 2010.
The trio were accompanied by the brilliant Palestinian percussionist Yousef Hbeisch.
Le Trio Joubran (Samir, Wissam and Adnan) are the fourth generation of a
Palestinian family of Oud makers.
The three Oud masters are brothers from the city of Nazareth, in
northern Palestine. Samir, the leader of the band, was introduced to the
Oud by his father at the age of five. When he was just nine, Samir
joined the Nazareth Institute of Music. In 1995 he graduated from the
highly prestigious Muhammad Abdul Wahhab Conservatory, in Cairo. Samir’s
first album, Taqaseem, came out in 1996, and was followed by his second
album, Sou'fahm (Misunderstanding) in 2001. For now, Samir and his group
are the only Palestinian musicians performing outside the borders of
their home country. Samir is also the first musician to be awarded a
two-year scholarship to Italy in 2003-2004 through the Writer's Asylum
Program organized by the International Parliament of Writers.
The Trio suffered all sorts of harassments including cancellations of
their performances in their home city of Nazareth by arbitrary Israeli
orders.
Samir gave tribute to the renowned Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who
contributed to his musical poetic understanding by saying, "I learned
from Darwish what no college can teach me."
Samir has a good experience in creating music for documentary films as
well. He composed the original sound track for Rashir Masharawi's Ticket
to Jerusalem and three tracks from his album Tamaas were included in the
sound track of Inguélézi. Three titles from Randana were also used in
Parvez Sharmas' documentary "A Jihad for Love."
Samir told us that night, "We will travel the world with our music, for
it is our weapon against oppression and no one can take our music or our
Palestinian heritage away from us." He also said, "We are fighting for
peace. We are campaigning to end the occupation in Palestine and this is
our message to the world."
Samir Joubran, the eldest brother, started his music career in 1996,
nearly a decade before the formation of the Joubran Trio. He released
two albums, Taqaseem in 1996, and Sou'fahm in 2001 before inviting
Wissam to join him on the third album, Tamaas released in 2003. Adnan
joined his brothers’ band in August 2004, and at the Parisian Luxembourg
Gardens, Le Joubran Trio came to life.
Wissam is the second son of Hatem Jubran, who signed him up for violin
lessons at the Nazareth conservatory and gave him a small Oud for his
ninth birthday. Wissam performed in local Palestinian concerts and on
the theater stage played the role of a singing Oud player in a play
about the life of the renowned Iraqi poet Moudaffar El Nawab. When
Wissam was twelve, he seized the opportunity to take his dreams and
talent all the way to Paris' Arab World Institute, where he shared the
stage with his brother Samir. In 2005, Wissam was the first Arab
graduate from the Antonio Stradivari Conservatory, in Cremona, and at
the same time he followed his father’s footsteps by becoming a master
luthier, making the Joubran Trio's Ouds, and carrying his
four-generation family's legacy into the future.
The third brother, Adnan, wanted to become a percussionist since he was
a boy. Yet, he was captivated by the Oud. By the age of fifteen, he took
part in Oud-playing contests, and he was one of five winners of a
contest held in Palestine. Adnan provides musical accompaniment for the
Fattoumi-Lamoureux dance company, in addition to his work with the Trio
and performing for Parisian audiences the combined music and circus show
called EKO DU OUD (the Oud's echo).
The Trio’s mother, Ibtisam Hanna Joubran, is known for her mastery of
singing the Mowashahat (a form of singing that originated in Arab
Spain).
The Trio are haunted, like all Palestinians, by exile and by the feeling
of being forced to keep on the move, searching for a "home away from
home," like almost six million Palestinian refugees. This can be felt in
the titles of their albums. At the end of the successful concert, the
four Palestinian musicians played a piece called Asfar, which means
"Travels," then signed a number of their albums for the audience.
Adnan told me, "We are Palestinians and we identify ourselves as such,
but no one even notices that we are Christian Palestinians, because for
us, Palestinians, it does not matter what faith we embrace, even though
we are campaigning for the freedom of our country through our heritage
and music."
The Palestinian Oud musicians Le Trio Joubran
resurrected Nazareth at St. George’s Concert Hall
by
Iqbal Tamimi
The fine Oud music did not need a crutch of words to explain its mission to the
British music lovers. For the first time campaigning and praying for
justice and peace in Palestine took the shape of music at St George’s Hall,
where the senses knelt in the presence of glorious art.
On Wednesday night, on the 29th of September 2010, the Palestinian musicians
Le Trio Joubran and the brilliant
Palestinian percussionist
Yousef Hbeisch held a concert at the marvellous St. George's Concert Hall in the city of
Bristol. St. George's is dedicated to promoting high quality art, hosting almost
200 events every year.
Le Trio Joubran, namely Samir, Wissam and Adnan, are the fourth generation of a Palestinian family of Oud makers.
Samir told us that last night’s Concert was the eleventh in a series of performances
on their current tour.
Even though the group is called Le Trio Joubran, the fourth member, the
percussionist master Youssef Hbeisch, is not a member of the Joubran family but is a
main pillar in the Trio's
compositions. He is the son of Palestine’s Galilee and his rhythms and notes were the magic that made the packed
concert hall echo with applauds while the Ouds of the Trio
were creating a marvellous dialogue with his drums and tambourines.
The three Oud masters are brothers from the city of Nazareth, in northern Palestine. Samir, the leader of the band, was introduced to
the Oud by his father at the age of
five. When he was just nine, Samir joined the Nazareth Institute of Music. In 1995 he
graduated from the highly prestigious Muhammad Abdul Wahhab Conservatory, in
Cairo.
Samir’s first album, Taqaseem, came out in 1996, and was followed by his second album, Sou'fahm (Misunderstanding) in 2001.
For now, Samir and his group are the only Palestinian musicians performing outside the borders of
their country. Samir is also the first
musician to be awarded a two-year scholarship to Italy in 2003-2004 through the Writer's Asylum Program organized by the International
Parliament of Writers.
Last night, Samir, who is now based in France, expressed his sorrow that a
large number of talented musicians and creative Palestinian colleagues
of his, are suffering the oppressive policies of Israel, which denies them
the right to travel and thus to participate in international activities. The Trio
themselves suffered all sorts of harassments including cancellations of
their performances in their home city of Nazareth by arbitrary Israeli orders.
On the stage, Samir gave tribute to the renowned Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who contributed to his
musical poetic understanding by saying, "I learned from Darwish what no college can teach me."
Samir’s music allied itself with the spoken word, bringing back to life
the traditional Palestinian tune of the well-known song Hal Asmar Eloun.
The revived British enthusiasts in the back seats found themselves humming along
with him, while
Arab expatriates sang along with his music for the homeland that has a
moon made of silver, Ya-boo Qamar Faddah.
The Trio played some tunes that must have been tailored for the sound track of a great documentary production. This was not surprising, since Samir has experience in
this field. He composed the original sound track for Rashir Masharawi's
Ticket to Jerusalem and three tracks from his album Tamaas
were included in the sound track of Inguélézi. Three titles from
Randana were also used in Parvez Sharmas' documentary A Jihad for Love.
Samir said, "We will travel the world with our music, for it is our weapon
against oppression and no one can take our music or our Palestinian heritage
away from us."
He also said, "We are fighting for peace. We are campaigning to end the
occupation in Palestine and this is our message to the world."
Samir Joubran, the eldest brother, started his music career in 1996, nearly a
decade before the formation of the Joubran Trio. He released two albums,
Taqaseem in 1996, and Sou'fahm in 2001 before inviting
Wissam to join him on the third album,
Tamaas
released in 2003. Adnan joined his brothers’ band in August 2004, and
at the Parisian Luxembourg Gardens, Le Joubran Trio came to life.
Wissam is the second son of Hatem Jubran, who signed him up for
violin lessons at the Nazareth conservatory and gave him a small Oud for
his ninth birthday. Wissam performed in local Palestinian concerts and
on the theater stage played the role of a singing Oud player in a play
about the life of the renowned Iraqi poet Moudaffar El Nawab.
When Wissam was twelve, he seized the opportunity to take his dreams and
talent all the way to Paris' Arab World Institute, where he shared the
stage with his brother Samir. In 2005, Wissam was the first Arab
graduate from the Antonio Stradivari Conservatory, in Cremona, and at
the same time he followed his father’s footsteps by becoming a master
luthier, making the Joubran Trio's Ouds, and carrying his four-generation
family's legacy into the future.
The third brother, Adnan, had wanted to become a percussionist since he was
a boy. Yet, he was captivated by the Oud. By the age of fifteen, he took
part in Oud-playing contests, and he was one of five winners of a
contest held in Palestine. Adnan provides musical accompaniment for the
Fattoumi-Lamoureux dance company, in addition to his work with the Trio
and performing for Parisian audiences the combined music and circus
show called EKO DU OUD (the Oud's echo). I have asked Adnan why their
mother, Ibtisam Hanna Joubran, who is known for her mastery of singing the
Mowashahat (a form of singing that originated in Arab Spain) is not
joining them. He said that it is not easy for her to leave Nazareth and
travel abroad, besides which the difficult nature of their long tour is
not easy for her.
The Trio are haunted, like all Palestinians, by exile and by the feeling of being
forced to keep on the move, searching for a "home away from home," like
almost six million Palestinian refugees. This can be felt in the titles of
their albums. At the end of the successful concert, the four Palestinian
musicians played a piece called Asfar, which means "Travels," then
signed a number of their albums for the audience.
It was
interesting that Adnan said, "We are Palestinians and we identify
ourselves as such, but no one even notices that we are Christian
Palestinians, because for us Palestinians it does not matter what faith
we are, even though we are campaigning for the freedom of our country through
our heritage and music."
For me as a Palestinian in exile, the Joubran’s concert was a dream that
brought my home country right to where I was. When the audience started
stamping their feet, applauding the musicians and demanding more music,
the sound of Palestinian Dabkeh was brought back to life, and I could
swear that I visualized the Palestine’s
summer harvests, and smelled the toasted wheat of its fields.
Iqbal Tamimi
Director for Arab Women Media Watch Centre in UK
iqbal.tamimi@ayamm.org
The HyperTexts