11th International Oud Festival: Jish Ensemble

Ehud Banai, George Samaan and Salem Darwish first met 23 years ago, producing not only a night-long musical session but also personal friendship and artistic collaboration that have developed and strengthened through the years: an Arab-Hebrew duet, woven into a rich musical idiom. “The natural, authentic sound of the earth and of this land,” as the three musicians define it.

Their performance for the Oud Festival combines songs by Ehud Banai and Arab folk songs and songs written by the Rahbani brothers for Lebanese vocalist Fairuz. The opening song of the performance is an Arab folk song, to the melody of which Banai’s father used to sing the Hebrew piyyut “Tsur mishelo akhalnu.”

http://www.ehudbanai.co.il/

Ehud Banai guitar and vocals; George Samaan oud, violin and vocals; Salem Darwish percussion and vocals; Gil Smetana bass guitar