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BIOGRAPHY
TARABBAND - Arabic Music From Sweden
Nominated and awarded as 2014's "Tradition bearer" and "Best crossover" at the Swedish World
Music Awards.
Formed in Malmö 2008, Tarabband hosts some of Sweden's most skilled folk & world
musicians. The group is lead by the charismatic Iraqi Egyptian singer Nadin, who fled war
in Iraq to Sweden in 2001. Tarabband's music and lyrics narrates her journey of survival,
exile, life and rebirth.
Their debut album ”Ya Sidi” was released in 2013 and contains 10 original compositions.
The music travels from Baghdad via Cairo, Paris to Malmo, mixing Sufism, Folk,
Flamenco, Jazz and settles in Tarab, the common denominator.
Tarabband combines groove and sweetness with a charismatic voice to transgress
borders that are drawn between countries and humans. "Tarab" itself is an Arabic term for
the ecstasy that can appear when music and emotions merge and become one.
MEMBERS
Nadin Al khalidi - lead vocals, saz, lyrics
Gabriel Hermansson - mandole, guitar, oud, vocals
Dan Svensson – percussion, ney, vocals
Romain Coutama - bass, vocals
Filip Runesson - violin
Ferhat Deniz Fors – percussion, ney, vocals
IN CONCERT
“It was a pleasure to work with Tarabband, who not only make great music, but are also
consummate professionals! They gave a well-received, spirited performance on stage, and spent a
lot of time engaging with the people of Stone Town, off stage. They also went enthusiastically into
the festival’s collaborative project called ‘Swahili Encounters’, a concept meant to put several
visiting musicians, local musicians and students of the Dhow Countries Music Academy together.
Tarabband participated in 3 days of workshops together with members of Tausi Women’s Taarab
band and some of the top students of the DCMA, who then delivered a powerful set on stage.
We wish Tarabband a great, glorious future and hope that their music goes from strength to
strength.”
~ Rhoda Isaacs, Festival Manager, Sauti za Busara 2014 – Zanzibar Tanzania
”The historic venue was packed to the brim as the unmistakable Nadin Al Khaldi – Tarabband’s
magnetic frontwoman – took to the stage to introduce the band to the music thirsty crowd.
appropriate whoops and whistles, she took no time at all to get into the groove, belting out unique
pop-meets-tarab-meets-baladi ballads. With an assortment of Oriental instruments in tow, fivepiece band showed the Arabs how it’s done, having mastered the Riq and Tabla,
rarely let go of her Oud, contrasting with the strings of a classic Spanish guitar and violin. Khaldi’s
velvety vocals carried through the venue to the extent that she almost didn’t need a mic.”
~ Cairoscene Magazine, Review of Tarabband's concert at El Fusion Festival – Cairo, Egypt
ALBUM REVIEWS
Gothenburg Post , Sweden
“A musical mixture of the highest class”
Mollevangen / The Mill Square in Malmo is perhaps Sweden's best known multicultural quarters.
For the Iraqi born singer Nadin Al Khalidi and her motley band to be settled by that square feels
so much right. Together they create a suggestive musical mixture of Arabic music in the first place
but rich in elements of Swedish folk, pop, flamenco, Gnawa and a lot more.
The duplicitous texts (which are translated to English) are sometimes about love and about her
strong memories of her homeland she had to flee , Iraq. A musical mixture of the highest class,
where talented musicians with diverse backgrounds are united in an equally passionately as sharp
way.
~ Patrik Lindgren
Folk World Magazine, Germany
“The desert is alive and not only among the heat of the southern sun, but also in cold Sweden ”
Based in Sweden, six-member ensemble Tarabband unites musicians from Sweden, France
and Iraq, who are dedicated to the musical cultures of North Africa and the Middle East.
Thanks to the art of singing from the female lead Nadin Al Khalidi, you have to read to come out
that the songs actually have emerged in the cool Malmo. But that is indeed the sun-drenched
south of Sweden. So all a matter of perspective. 'YA SIDI', the debut of Tarabband will suit any
listener in the North, South, East or West.
Conclusion: Recommended!
~ Holger Brandstaedt
Hallands nyheter, Sweden
“Contrasts and contagious passion”
Malmo-based Tarabband moves in a borderland between north and south, between the Arabian
heat and Nordic coolness. The group is lead by the singer Nadin Al Khalidi, originally from Iraq,
who also writes the lyrics while the music is composed by the other band members. The debut
"Ya Sidi" shows how well the group combines their sound. The album contains ten original songs,
where the music carries quite clear scents of Egypt and Iraq, which is reinforced by the Arabic
singing. Some of songs pull further down in Africa, as evocative "Yasmin".
At the same time it meets the Nordic sound, peaceful, stretched. This record is an exciting
crossroad. Less successful is the Pop touch that appears on some of the tracks.
The project's strength is in the song. There there is contagious passion!
~ Gert-Ove Fridlund
BOOKING
Hilda Sandgren
MTA Production AB
Saltmätargatan 7, 2tr
113 59 Stockholm
Sweden
OFFICE: +46 8-660 86 09
FAX: +46 (0)8 - 615 67 87
CELL/VIBER: +46 70-440 85 00
[email protected]
www.mtaprod.se
www.facebook.com/mtaprod
The debut album of TARABBAND: ”Ya Sidi” (KAPCD003)