BBIMF 2022 Homegrown Edition 2

Beirut native Tarek Yamani returns to the BBIMF stage once again. Yamani is a pianist and composer who, at 19, taught himself jazz. His explorations into Black American and Arabic music can be heard in his second album “Lisan Al Tarab: Jazz Conceptions in Classical Arabic”, and in his 3rd release “Peninsular”. An award-winning artist, Yamani was recently commissioned by the UMS Digital Artist Residency to write “Berytus”, his first string quartet for multi-Grammy nominated Spektral Quartet. He has been part of three editions of the International Jazz Day all-star concerts and performed in venues such as the Smithsonian (DC), Barcelona Cathedral at La Merce, Atrium at Lincoln Center (NYC), and Boulez Saal (Berlin), to name just a few. Yamani is also an educator, author of two self-published music books on rhythm, and a prominent film score composer.

He’ll be revealing on Thursday 10, the opening night of #BBIMFHG2, new work of his upcoming album alongside, for the first time in Beirut, Elie Afif on Bass and Khaled Yassine on drums.

A Beirut-based musical project, Rust blends traditional Arabic vocals with unique synthesized sounds, creating an altered, transcendental experience. Petra Hawi on vocals and Hany Manja on synths, both from different musical backgrounds, formed Rust with a common interest and vision: to revive the Arabic musical tradition in a new way that resonates with this generation’s tastes. Hawi is a Lebanese musician and vocalist based in Beirut, with a background in Oud and Arabic singing, and has been performing since 2012 with several bands in Lebanon. Manja is a Damascus-born musician and electronic music producer who moved to Beirut to reconnect with his roots, after spending fifteen years in Prague. He’s released several singles and an EP, and has composed music for short movies, museum installations, and commercial projects.

They’ll be performing their unique and mesmerizing music live with drum machines and synthesizers along with live vocals, in addition to cover songs chosen from the repertoire of classical Arabic compositions, reviving Arabic music by infusing it with contemporary sounds.

Formed in 2019, NP is electronic, experimental duo Jad Atoui and Anthony Sahyoun reflecting on the current political transformation and its uncertainties as a method to explore musical futures. Atoui and Sahyoun have made a name for themselves locally through their performance of both extended experimental music and banger live dance music. They’ve collaborated with Joe Saade on video works, having presented a one-hour long film on introspection through extrospection for Lumens Stockholm. They also host various workshops on the use of programming for music production. They’ve played various shows around Beirut and the UAE, as well as Cineconcerts and extended band formats with Kinematik, Fadi Tabbal and Bana Haffar.

The duo is sure to electrify the night once they take the stage, with a performance that utilizes acoustic objects, modular systems, and programming.

Norwegian guitarist and composer Knut Reiersrud is known for a number of collaborations in various music genres. He has a large number of record releases under his own name, and contributions on around three hundred recordings. A profiled concert artist, Reiersrud has been a performing musician since the early 1970s.He’s won three Spellemann Prizes (Norwegian Grammy Awards), and has been nominated eleven times.

Reiersrud has toured in several small towns in Bekaa in the 1980’s, but now will be taking the stage with vocalist Marit Halvorsen on March 11^th, giving the crowd one of his highly memorable performances.

Postcards is a dream pop trio formed in 2012 in Beirut, Lebanon. Their music is defined by hushed vocals floating over expansive soundscapes that shift between harsh noise and dreamy atmospheres. They have three EPs and albums under their belt, and have been touring Europe and the Middle East regularly since 2014. Their third full-length album “After the Fire, Before the End” came out on October 15, 2021. Written between January 2020 and January 2021, it is a record of the devastating year that the country witnessed, through the eyes of the band. They recently completed a 12-day residency in Byblos as part of the Beirut and Beyond residency program.

The trifecta of performers are going to be nothing short of impeccable when they play their last release but also new, unreleased material from their residency at the #BBIMFHG2

A Franco-Syrian based in Paris since 2012, Wael Alkak is a composer and electronic music producer who trained in classical knowledge at the Conservatory of Damascus. He joined the Syrian National Orchestra and various collectives of musicians, from jazz and funk to Arab classical music. He plays the sax, piano, and bouzouk, and works as a film composer. “Neshama” is his first album, which was inspired by the revolutionary anthems from the peaceful demonstrations in Syria in 2011.

Alkak tours in France and Europe with his solo electro music project “Wael Alkak Live” and his band, Neshama. A hybrid and experimental musical creation, his live performances merge synthesizers and machines with traditional Chaâbi rhythms and popular Levant melodies. They reflect a work of memory on the richness of Syrian culture, while making independent art inspired by European electronic cultures. In 2018, the founder of the Neshama popular arts association won the WOMEX18 (club summit official selection).

Alkak takes center stage at the #BBIMFHG2 to give audiences a blend of his distinct music.

As a Beirut-based bilingual singer-songwriter, Jallad’s work deals with the highly personal as well as the political, heard in her upcoming first solo album “Marjaa 1: The Battle of the Hotels”. The album explores the histories of urban battles that occurred before she was born, during the Lebanese Civil War, through a collaborative musical and architectural lens. She received the Lukman Slim “Sounds of the City” Prize in February 2022, for a song in memory of the journalist and mentor, after his assassination. She has performed and written music with the indie band Safar, releasing debut album “In Transit” and a follow-up EP “Studies of an Unknown Lover” with Lebanese producer Fadi Tabbal at Tunefork studios. Jallad has also performed with Lebanese producer Zeid Hamdan as part of the band “Zeid and the Wings”.

Expect a riveting show by Jallad, joined by the talented Khaled Allaf, on the 12^th, with vivid music to fill both heart and soul.

A musician and puppet-maker, Yara is a natural-born creator and artist. Along with the accordion, metallophone, and synthesizer, she incorporates different toys and materials into her musical practice, proving that melodies can form from the most unusual of places and things.

Artists Lynn Adib and Zeid Hamdan began Bedouin Burger as a way to blend their ideas and produce delicious tracks. With Arabic, jazz, and bedouin music flowing through her veins, Adib writes and sings to touch and elevate the sensitive soul, while Hamdan has his own unique flavor when it comes to producing and composing Arabic electro pop music. Known as one of the godfathers of the Arab indie scene, his contribution to its music is essential.

The duo will be giving #BBIMFHG2 a taste of those tantalizing beats, and it can’t come soon enough!