Uber Lingua is proud to present DuOud (Istanbul/Paris/North Africa) Australian Tour 2009 DuOud consist of two oud playing Istanbul based musicians; Tunisian born Jean-Pierre Smadja, already noted for two albums he issued as Smadj on MELT 2000, and Algerian born master oud player Mehdi Haddab, known for his work with the acclaimed French based trio, Evoko, and more recently Speed Caravan. Blending their Nth African heritage with the latest Western technology, the pair build a musical cycle that looks to their African roots while absorbing and morphing contemporary music styles - break beats, jazz grooves and metal guitar. While DuOud are not the first to mix the North African lute with electronic technology, they do it with such an imaginative freedom that sets them apart from their contemporaries; their debut album Wild Serenade saw them nominated for the Best Newcomer award in the 2003 BBC Music Awards. Their 2005 album Sakat, on which they collaborated with Abdulatif Yagoub
(Yemen) further cemented their reputation, receiving high critical praise
across Europe. Fans can expect a new release, Ping Pong, in 2009.
A standout event is the 4-stage laneway space in Sydney's CBD. Angel Place on Festival First Night is currated for the second time by Uber Lingua with a high concentration of video projection built in to compliment the continuous sonic musical aspects of the event. The evolution this time round is to incorporate high calibre international acts. Electronic music producers Filastine (Barcelona) and Maga Bo (Rio de Janeiro) also perform in this back alley environment. On the 11th of January, UL & Top Shelf present a super-sonic French double-bill at Melbourne's The Corner Hotel, where DuOud play alongside Java. A wildly popular Parisian four-piece outfit, Java describe their style as French 'chanson' mixed with hypnotic black music of African origining community, deconstructing the exotic, making collaborations in a fair and respectful way - the music speaks for itself. DUOUD TOUR 2009 Jan 9: Mona Foma - Hobart
DuOud The oud, one of the most beautiful and oldest of instruments in the world is brought into the 21st Century in Smadj's new project . DuOud mix the North African lute with electronic technology, and do it with an imaginative freedom that sets them apart from their contemporaries. They build a musical cycle that looks both to North African roots while absorbing elements of contemporary French music - break beats, jazz grooves and metal guitar are all invited to join the party. The 2003 Album, Wild Serenade (Label Bleu, France), was nominated as 'Best Newcomer' in the BBC World Music awards 2003 DuOud consist of two oud-playing Parisians who combine their North African heritage with the latest in Western technology. Smadj is Jean-Pierre Smadja - already noted for the two albums he issued as Smadj on MELT 2000 - is Tunisian by birth and trained as a jazz musician and sound engineer. His collaborator is master oud player Mehdi Haddab who was born in Algiers. He spent time in Burundi, Central Africa, before settling in Paris. He is also a third of the Parisian based trio Ekova, who specialise in the sort of global-meets- electronic-fusion that thrives in Paris. North African musicians are proving to be amongst world music's most exciting pioneers: Khaled's pop-rai synthesis has made the Algerian Elvis a superstar. DuOud are the latest North African sensation to prove that tradition and technology can mix and match to create a sound full of possibilities. 'I'd been playing oud for a long time and had started to experiment with electronics,' says Mehdi. Smadj was creating electronic music for many years but he only recently started playing the oud. Once we sat down to make music together it turned out we complemented each other.' 'We began to compose our own material,' adds Smadj, 'so we needed rhythms to support our improvisations - that's when we decided to put electronic beats behind our rehearsals. With time we just got involved in compositions with electronics.' Tunisian born Jean-Pierre Smadja, or 'Smadj', was influenced from an early age by an eclectic mix of Oriental and Brazilian music, jazz, funk and Soul. As a guitarist, Smadj toured the jazz clubs of Paris with a variety of groups for 10 years. When he later began to fuse this jazz sound with the Eastern, African and Latin grooves from his youth, Paris audiences were captivated. He called this new sound "Tatoum". After collaborating live with groups such as French band Faudel and Fela Kuti's drummer Tony Allen, he began experimenting with electronic music, finally creating an extraordinary fusion of electronic sounds, oriental melodies, Arabic and North African instrumentation, and Parisian jazz-funk. His first 2 albums intrigued and excited the music media across Europe, and were backed up by a number of stunning live performances in European clubs and festivals. Live and unleashed, Smadj controls all samples and electronic programming, whilst also playing Oud and guitar. The oud is one of the most beautiful instruments in the world, lending itself to Turkish, North African and Middle Eastern interpretation. Yet DuOud's debut album, Wild Serenade (Label Bleu) takes the oud into a different context. With the electronic programming expertise of Smadj and the virtuoso performances of Mehdi Haddab, the oud is immediately brought into the 21st Century. While DuOud are not the first musicians to mix the North African lute with electronic technology, they do it with an imaginative freedom that sets them apart from their contemporaries. DuOud never engage in the world fusion clichÇ of playing over a thudding house beat. Instead, they build a musical cycle that looks both to African roots while absorbing elements of contemporary French music - break beats, jazz grooves and metal guitar are all invited to join the party. Wild Serenade is an album of dialogues between two men and two cultures.
email: info@uberlingua.com to be on our email list... Demos can be sent
to Uber Lingua PO Box 2613 Fitzroy 3065 Australia
|
