Mohamed Najem Ouvert sur le monde, Mohamed Najem traverse les continents en utilisant des techniques classiques et une interprétation arabe afin de créer un son et un style originaux sur sa clarinette. Ses compositions, inspirées par les histoires de son grand-père à propos de sa ville natale, Jaffa, racontent son passé, son présent et son avenir. Elles reflètent une combinaison éclectique de rythmes et de mélodies au cœur desquelles il partage des histoires musicales et fait voyager le public, avec les musiciens de son quartet, qui ajoutent une touche de jazz moderne. Né à Jérusalem et ayant grandi à Bethléem, Mohamed a obtenu le premier prix en musique arabe dans le cadre de la competition nationale palestinienne en 2005. Il a commencé la clarinette et le ney au Conservatoire national de musique Edward Saïd (CNMES) en Palestine, et est diplômé du Conservatoire à rayonnement régional (CRR) d'Angers. Il a joué en tant que soliste pour l'Orchestre des jeunes palestiniens pendant plusieurs années. Il a donné des représentations et enregistré avec différents groupes et projets musicaux, dont des ensembles traditionnels, populaires et classiques, dans des festivals locaux et internationaux comme le Montreux Jazz Festival, La Défense Jazz Festival, Layali Birzeit, et l’European Jazz Festival au Qatar. Mohamed vient de terminer l’enregistrement, en quartet, de son 2ème album nommé Jaffa blossom, qui sortira en 2024.

“Understanding the order of time is important to anyone hoping to manifest a dream,” says Valerie June. “There is a time to push, and a time to gently tend the garden.”

Since the release of her 2013 breakout Pushin’ Against A Stone, June has been patiently at work in the garden of song, nurturing seedlings with love and care into the lush bloom that is her stunning new album, The Order Of Time. Some songs grew from seeds planted more than a decade ago, others blossomed overnight when she least expected them to, but every track bears the influence of time. See, time has been on June’s mind a lot lately. It’s the only constant in life, even though it’s constantly changing. It’s the healer of all wounds, the killer of all men. It’s at once infinite and finite, ever flowing with twists and turns and brutal, churning rapids that give way to serene stretches of placid tranquility. Fight against the current and it will knock you flat on your ass. Learn to read it, to speak its language, and it will carry you exactly where you’re meant to be.

OKeh short history: 

OKeh was founded by Otto K. E. Heinemann when he set up his own recording studio and gramophone record pressing plant in New York City in September 1918. Heinemann formed the name of the record label "OKeh", from his initials.  OKeh began by issuing popular songs, dance numbers, and vaudeville skits similar to the fare of other labels, but Heineman also wished to experiment with music for audiences neglected by the larger record companies. OKeh produced lines of recordings in German, Czech, Polish, Swedish, and Yiddish for the USA's immigrant communities. In 1920, Ralph Peer's recordings by African-American blues singer Mamie Smith were a surprise smash hit for Okeh. The company perceived the significant, little-tapped market for blues and jazz by African American artists. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke are only a few names of jazz greats that have recorded for the label. By 1926 Columbia Records bought the label and kept it running into the 60's with jazz and R&B recordings. 

In 1994, Sony Music reactivated the OKeh label as a new-age Blues label. Okeh's first new signings included Keb' Mo, Popa Chubby, and Little Axe. By 2000, the Okeh label was again retired, but in 2013 it will see its re-launch as a jazz label once again.

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