كتير حلوة. بتخيل حالي مثل هالعصفور بالقفص. 

If the city of Beirut doesn’t leap to mind as a hotbed of avant-garde musical activity, listen up: since 2005, the Al Maslakh label (translation: The Slaughterhouse) has been documenting far-thinking sounds from the small but vital Lebanese scene.  The “A” Trio’s first release, Music To Our Ears, was one of the most startling debuts of 2011; now, Roaratorio is proud to present their second album (and first vinyl release): Live In Nickelsdorf, recorded at the Konfrontationen Festival in 2012.  While far from the first to employ extended techniques on their respective instruments, Mazen Kerbaj (trumpet), Sharif Sehnaoui (acoustic guitar), and Raed Yassin (doublebass) create a music that bears little relation to others who traffic in the same outer realms.  Heavily textural, frequently perplexing, sometimes unsettling but always suffused with a provocative intelligence, this is the sound of a collective ur-mind that favors the long gesture over pointillistic strokes.  Their capacity for generating aural illusions – one would be hard-pressed to identify the instrumentation as three acoustic instruments, with no electronics or overdubs whatsoever – is astounding, but it’s their skill at harnessing these uncanny tones into a consistently engaging and powerful sound-world that elevates the “A” Trio into the front rank of contemporary improvisational groups.  A limited edition of 350 copies.  Download coupon included.

"A"  Trio - Mechwar Rayhin Mechwar (excerpt 2)

"A"  Trio - Mechwar Rayhin Mechwar (excerpt 1)

Jc Solo 1 Aug

Mazen Kerbaj : trumpet
Sharif Sehnaoui : acoustic guitar
Recorded @ STEIM Amsterdam.

Reductionism - Mazen Kerbaj & Sharif Sehnaoui

On December 18th I was tested positive to Covid 19 in Belgium. I came back in a car to Berlin on the second day and went into self-isolation in a hotel room for ten days. This track was recorded on the 8th day of this reclusion (which also happens to be Christmas day) and it expresses my state of mind then.
The image is a self portrait with the same title, drawn the night before.

This track is part of the Corona Diaries, a project initiated on march 13 2020 and that includes drawings, music, texts and videos.
Link to the diaries: kerbajdiaries.com

Like A Bird In A Cage

Mazen Kerbaj

Recent comments

Bin ein Fisch

Bin ein Fisch

Related tracks