Faraj Abyad: A Tribute to Fairuz & Classical Poetry

Faraj Abyad and Watar Cultural Initiative are excited to present, A Tribute to Fairuz & Classical Poetry. In this concert Faraj Abyad and his ensemble will pay tribute to the legendary Fairuz. The band, lead by Ismail Luminovski, will perform the classical Fairuz repertoire while infusing the songs with Latin, Jazz and Classical elements. Additionally, new compositions to classical Arabic poetry by Faraj Abyad will be showcased during the performance. The show will feature guest singer Rana Baransi who will be premiered for the first time in New York City on this show.

About the band:

This unique group of award-winning musicians from Macedonia, Syria, Palestine, Turkey, Paris and Cuba come together to bring you a unique sound. This fusion has elements of Classical-Arabic, Jazz, Afro-Cuban and Turkish sounds. This musical project experiments with the “Tarab” genre, bringing it to new cultures and perspectives.

Faraj Abyad: Lead Vocals & Oud

Faraj Abyad is a Syrian-American composer and a multi-instrumentalist based in New York City, who specializes in performing traditional Arabic music. His goal as a musician and singer is to preserve and uphold the timeless beauty of classical Arabic music while redesigning their historic melodies to appeal to the modern ear. Faraj’s compositions have been featured at Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and other iconic musical institutions in the U.S. and the Arab world. In 2022, he was commissioned by Abu Dhabi Music Festival to produce an album of modern Tarab to the greats of classical Arabic poetry. This work was recorded in the legendary Power Station Studios where some of the greatest New York musical icons have recorded their albums.

Rana Baransi: Lead Vocals

Rana Baransi holds a bachelor’s degree in music, specializing in Maqam based Arabic singing, from the Academy of Music in Jerusalem.

She began her career in 2007 in ritual hymns and then moved on to Classical Arabic repertoire. She has released several of her own compositions, most of which are her own lyrics and melodies. She participated in many important festivals and concerts throughout Palestine.

Her ambition is to bring her unique voice and musical knowledge to a younger generation by performing classical repertoire as well as contemporary music.

Ismail Luminovski: Clarinet and Director

The extraordinary clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski is a musical force of passion and dynamic virtuosity. Already of international distinction, Lumanovki has launched a major career as a soloist, chamber musician in both classical and crossover repertoire. His synergistic blend of natural talent and training combines the spirit of folk music with the discipline of classical music. His performances have been widely reviewed. The New York Times wrote of his work under Pierre Boulez, “the soloist — the brilliant, fearless young clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski — aligned himself with various instrumental contingents of the large ensemble.”

Tamer Pinarbasi: Qanun

Born in Turkey, Tamer Pinarbasi started his kanun lessons at the age of 10, made his first of hundreds of recordings at 13, with top Turkish artists. Starting age 17, he began concertizing throughout Europe, and he has shared his music with diverse audiences over the years. After years of musical training and thousands of performances throughout the world, Tamer moved to Unites States and branched out to explore Jazz, funk, flamenco, classical and contemporary music that has continued to this day. His diverse recordings reveal the range of his artistry from jazz standards to micro-tonal eastern music with string orchestrations as well as his unique compositions.

Dayramir Ganzalez: Piano

Dayramir began his professional career as a pianist and composer with former Irakere member, Oscar Valdes’ Afro-Cuban jazz ensemble Diákara at the age of 16. Since winning Havana’s JoJazz festival in 2004 and 2005, Dayramir has gone from winning three Cubadisco awards for his 2007 debut album “Dayramir & Habana enTRANCé” to becoming Berklee College of Music’s first Cuban national “Presidential Scholarship” recipient to performing in 15,000-seat stadiums with legends like Chucho and Bebo Valdes and headlining Carnegie Hall, representing the young generation of Afro-Cuban jazz.

Zafer Tawil: Percussion

Zafer Tawil is a virtuoso on ‘oud, violin, and qanun, and a master of Arab percussion. Zafer has performed in concerts across the country, including performances with numerous musicians ranging from Sting to Arab music virtuosos Chab Mami, Simon Shaheen, Bassam Saba and George Ziadeh, to avant- garde composer/ performer Elliot Sharpe. He was a featured composer and performer in acclaimed director Jonathan Demme's Oscar-nominated film Rachel Getting Married and is composing and performing for Demme’s next film project, Zeitoun, based on Dave Eggers’ book about Abdulrahman Zeitoun’s post-Hurricane Katrina odyssey. Zafer has worked on many collaboration concerts involving classical Indian and Persian music as well as Arab/jazz fusion. He has held workshops on Arab music at many institutions and universities across the United States. A native of Jerusalem, Palestine, he resides in New York City.

Saadi Zain: Bass

Active in a multitude of musical genres, including jazz, western classical, world and popular music, New York City-based Saadi Zain is respected as a highly skilled and versatile bassist. Adept at both double (upright) bass and electric bass, Saadi performs with a wide variety of exceptional musicians and ensembles in various genres, both domestically and internationally. Saadi also plays for Broadway shows and other theatrical productions and is currently the bassist with “The Great Gatsby” on Broadway. He was recently the bassist for the orchestra of “Sugar Hill-the Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker,” which debuted at the Chicago Auditorium Theater in December 2023. In Spring of 2022, Saadi performed with the off-Broadway musical “Little Girl Blue,” a new and dramatic piece about the enigmatic and world-renowned Nina Simone. He also served as principal bassist of the South Asian Symphony Orchestra for their first concert since the pandemic, in Chennai, India (July 2022). Some of Saadi’s performing highlights have been touring Africa on a U.S. State Department tour with vocal and saxophone sensation Camille Thurman as part of the Darrell Green trio; touring Europe with diva Jessye Norman on her final “My Roots, My Life” tour, performing live with Diana Krall as part of the orchestra at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (playing her hit arrangements by Claus Ogerman) and performing a week-long engagement at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York with the Ron Carter Nonet, playing bass alongside the legendary bassist who plays piccolo bass in that ensemble.

This event is brought to you by Watar Cultural Initiative.

Watar is a new non-profit initiative which serves to promote the beauty of Arabic music, poetry, and visual arts within the New York City community. Its objective is to bridge gaps between diverse communities and create musical healing spaces. In partnering with Jazz Gallery, it explores collaborations with New York’s greatest jazz musicians encouraging them to explore working with arabic rhythms and microtones. “Watar” in Arabic means “musical string” ; which is a metaphor for the diverse musical “strings” brought together to play in harmony.

Special thanks to the Jazz Gallery for partnering with the Watar Cultural Initiative and contributing to Watar's vision of bringing New York's most prominent Jazz and Arabic musicians together on stage.

The Jazz Gallery serves as an international cultural center where the youngest generation of emerging professional jazz musicians are nurtured with opportunities to collaborate with their peers, discover and refine their creativity, and perform in front of eager audiences. We take pride in our world-renowned reputation as a key player in the NYC jazz community by sustaining a tradition of artistic excellence in jazz and fostering artistic growth, presenting both major and established figures in jazz alongside a younger generation of artists. Since 2002, The Gallery has also been actively engaged in commissioning new work by emerging composers, many of whom have gone on to be recognized with MacArthur Foundation “genius” grants, Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards, Grammy Awards and more. Twelve Thelonious Monk Competition winners got their start on our stage.Winner of the 2016, 2014 & 2010 CMA/ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, The Jazz Gallery has garnered a reputation as “the most imaginatively booked jazz club in New York” (NY Times).