Welcome to the Arabic Jazz blog!

Ahlan wa sahlan!

Welcome to my blog. I've created this blog to share information and news about music that mixes elements of jazz and Arabic music. I'll also share scores and transcriptions etc. for musicians.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Simon Shaheen

A Palestinian, born in the village of Tarshiha in the Galilee, Shaheen's childhood was steeped in music. His father, Hikmat Shaheen, was a professor of music and a master 'oud player. Simon began playing the oud at the age of five and the violin shortly thereafter.

Most of Shaheen's recorded output is on the more traditional side. His jazziest disc, Blue Flame is somewhat reminiscent of the music of John McLaughlin or Paco DeLucia. Shaheen regularly makes extensive use of microtonal maqamat such as Rast, Sikah and Bayati.


All of his recordings are very highly recommended.

Shameless plug: I'm playing guitar on this one in Ramallah!






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