Gig by Palestinian singer Reem Kelani

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Tuesday April 12, 2005 11:43 by Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign - IPSC supportpalestine at ireland dot com PO Box 9124, Dublin 1 087 207 2187

The Village, Wexford Street @ 8pm

Palestinian singer Reem Kelani & band will play a concert in the Village, Wexford Street, on Monday 18th of April as part of the IPSC's Palestine Awareness Week. Support will be from Tristan Rosenstock and friends (of Irish traditional group Téada).

Tickets are €15 in advance by ringing 087 207 2187, or €18 on the door.

Reem Kelani is a Diaspora Palestinian, born in Manchester, of Palestinian parents. She spent her formative years in Kuwait.

Reem started singing in public at the age of four. She was initially influenced by the Lebanese singer Fairuz and by the Jazz standards her father used to play on his record player. A family wedding Reem attended in Galilee in the seventies sparked her interest in Palestinian music.

Reem returned to the UK in 1989. A two-year project on Palestinian Costume at the British Museum (1990-92) consolidated Reem’s focus on Palestinian music. Since then, she has spent time recording songs from the older women in the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon and in her maternal home of Nazareth.

From June 2002 to July 2003, Reem was the featured vocalist with Gilad Atzmon & the Orient House Ensemble. She sang the two opening two tracks on the CD "Exile", including "Dal'ouna on the Return" which has enjoyed considerable airplay since its release. She also appreared with them in Norway (Vossa Jazz Festival 2003), Germany (Munich & Frankfurt) and Austria (Klagenfurt). 'Exile' won the BBC Jazz Awards for Best CD in July 2003.

Reem gives workshops on Arabic and Palestinian music in schools and colleges around the UK. Recently, she wrote and presented ‘Distant Chords’ for BBC Radio Four, featuring the music of migrant communities in the UK (Afghan, Yemeni, Kurdish, Armenian, Micronesian and Portuguese). Throughout the past 15 years, Reem has toured widely in Europe, the Middle East and America.

Reem is currently working on an album of Palestinian songs which is to be released in 2005.