Jameel - 12-9-2007 at 11:33 AM
http://www.sroartists.com/artists/aswat/
I stumbled across this a couple days ago.
For fans of classical genre, this looks to be a very nice opportunity for those of us in North America. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this
develops. Hopefully there will be a performance in my neck of the woods. 
amtaha - 12-9-2007 at 11:55 AM
... this winter did need a warming thought. 
thanks for letting us know, Jameel.
zalzal - 12-9-2007 at 01:43 PM
The columns of the Great Mosque of Cordoba in the front of the cd....
Interesting that Simon Shaheen assimilates the golden age of arab (eastern) song with the great andalousian (occidental) civilisation.
Brian Prunka - 12-9-2007 at 02:04 PM
Notice that this is his agency's site, not his . . . it's very unlikely that Simon had anything to do with the visual design.
SamirCanada - 12-9-2007 at 02:13 PM
Mohamed abdo is HUGE. he is a living legend.
why doesnt he get Wadea al Safi ? he is still singing to my knowlege...
would be better then saber robeai
hopefully they come by ottawa.
I would love to see that.
stringmanca - 12-10-2007 at 08:57 AM
Looks like a great project!
More info:
http://www.sroartists.com/artists/aswat/news.php
http://www.sroartists.com/artists/aswat/programnotes/prg-ssgold_int...
sidjones - 1-3-2008 at 03:32 PM
Salaam Jameel: That's interesting. I used to sing in a Arab music ensemble in San Francisco, also named ASWAT. Here they are:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&am...
And speaking of MySpace, just for laughs, you can see me here:
http://www.myspace.com/sidneyjones
Take care, Sid
Jameel - 1-10-2008 at 07:24 PM
Check out Simon's video promo for this project.
http://www.sroartists.com/artists/aswat/videoclips/aswat-promo.wmv
Brian Prunka - 1-11-2008 at 02:10 PM
This is shot in Najib's restaurant! 
Makes me want a falafel . . .
zalzal - 1-12-2008 at 04:55 AM
Interesting that Simon Shaheen links the andalousian period, in fact considered as the most important and genious musical arab (western?) period, with
the golden age of the arab (eastern) song. Actually he says that the second is the renaissance of the first.
Not that clear for me....eastern falafel is not the renaissance of algerian ks ks, and both are delicious....
stringmanca - 8-19-2008 at 01:05 PM
I've just ordered my tickets! 
http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/presents/season/2008/world_stage/s...
I found these tour dates, don't know how complete the list is:
Thu 03/05/09 Durham, NC Page Auditorium
Fri 03/06/09 Washington, DC Eisenhower Theatre
Sat 03/07/09 New York, NY Town Hall
Sun 03/08/09 Cleveland, OH Ohio Theatre
Thu 03/12/09 Ann Arbor, MI Hill Auditorium
Fri 03/13/09 Glen Ellyn, IL McAninch Arts Center
Sun 03/15/09 Urbana, IL Foellinger Great Hall
Tue 03/17/09 Berkeley, CA Zellerbach Hall
stringmanca - 3-17-2009 at 08:18 AM
Tonight's The Night!
I'm looking forward to the show - anyone else going?
Has anyone been to any of the previous shows?
Here's the program:
http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/presents/information_desk/program_...
fhydan - 3-17-2009 at 08:46 AM
AGghhh I knew about this four days too late!
:'(
What a bummer.
stringmanca - 3-18-2009 at 09:46 AM
This was a beautiful show! Sorry to all who missed it! There is one more show on the tour this Friday in southern California - go if you can! (at
the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temucula, of all places: http://www.pollstar.com/resultsVenue.aspx?ID=83204&SortBy=Date )
Simon only played violin. His brother played oud (nice instruments!) but didn't have much in the way of solo spots. Lots of nice qanun stuff,
though! The vocalists were outstanding.
The hall (Zellerbach, on the UC Berkeley campus) was only about 2/3rds full, which was kind of disappointing, but I think there were less at the last
Shaheen show.
The only negative thing I have to say is about the quality of the videos shown at the beginning. I realize that these are old films, but I felt like
I was watching YouTube on a big screen. The sound was out of sync and at times there was pixilation visible. As the concert was billed as a
'multimedia event', I thought that the video could have been used more effectively. This was a minor distraction, though, as the music itself was so
well done!
Bravo, Simon & crew! Thank you for bringing this music back!
Devastated
spyrosc - 3-19-2009 at 12:04 AM
I waited for his show all year and then found out they scheduled it at the worst possible time for me, on a Tuesday night!
And I had to be at work and could no way get out of it!
So I missed it and I'm devastated. I was there in spirit at least.
I think the one before at the Zellerbach was pretty full, I don't remember it being 2/3 empty?
Anyway, glad you enjoyed it (but envious). Was Bryan there this time ?
Spyros C.
stringmanca - 3-19-2009 at 07:52 AM
Sorry you had to miss it!
No, no Brian this time.
Nathan