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Concert Preview
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The Daily Texan, Concert Preview >>
Marcel Khalife looks like a folk singer: thick grey beard, curly salt-and-pepper hair lightening with age and eyelids exposed as he stares down at his instrument the oud, commonly described as an Oriental lute. Groomed, clad in black and sitting with his oud in his lap and the 12-piece Al Mayadine Ensemble he created in his hometown of Amchit, Lebanon, Khalife doesn't look like a man who is famous for playing from the rubble of bombed Beirut concert halls.
He radiates a calm, subdued demeanor - a quiet power befitting a quiet presence. But the sonority and ardor of his music release an antithetical air culled from Arabic and Western styles to engender a compelling sound.
Raised as a Maronite Christian, Khalife grew up listening to the canticles of the Christian church and the Islamic recitations of the Quran. After graduating from the National Conservatory of Music in Beirut in the '70s with a keen sense of the classical perspective, Khalife applied the themes of the Arabic musical past to what was then a warring present by adding a populist element to his palette.
His social consciousness and ambition for the progression of the Middle Eastern musical tradition have garnered Khalife comparisons to Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. His performances at the bombed venues are and will continue to be the concrete basis for Khalife's historical significance and whatever mythology may surround his name in the future.
Despite modeling himself as a unifying figure in the Middle East and having been officially recognized in 2005 as a "UNESCO Artist for Peace," controversy stalks Khalife.
A scheduled performance in San Diego was canceled at the risk of being perceived as "divisive" and "unbalanced" without an Israeli artist present - evidence that today's geopolitics have rendered people from the West Coast to Bahrain hyper-sensitive to any suggestion of commentary or opinion, even from a musician foremost concerned with his art.
The nature of his work alone indicates his interest in experimentation and growth: besides re-imagining the principles of the classical tradition, Khalife has inspired the creation of a new dance genre in the Eastern ballet, composed of soundtracks and exclusively instrumental pieces, and has written several books about music.
A recent installment in his prolific discography is "Taqasim (Improvisations)," which Khalifé dedicates to the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. The musician, inspired by the "divine assertiveness" of Darwish's poetry, writes, "In Taqasim, I will try to reproduce, only as music can, the esthetical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual resonance of Darwish's poetry."
Though the improvisatory nature of Taqasim would seem to eschew the classical rules of composition, it finds Khalife once again synthesizing the established traditions of the past in its thoughtfulness and searching for new ground in its emotion, like an exile looking for a new home.
As a "world" musician, Khalife does more than recall a specific place or region; his music comes from a universal place without borders. Taqasim lends itself to both thought and passion - hallmarks of the style Khalife has developed over the years.
Besides his status as a musician in his own right, Khalife is a lover of art and expression. Though his sincerity strikes some as dangerous and controversial, the sentiment expressed by his music is unmistakably poignant and important. It should be considered a privilege, not a potential catastrophe, to host and attend his performance with the Al Mayadine Ensemble (simplified on this North American tour by featuring Khalife on oud and vocals, two double basses, piano and percussion) regardless of his political preferences.
The UT Performing Art Center's sponsorship of the event is certainly something to be proud of (in light of the San Diego incident) for its bravery and cultural consciousness - for its ability to see Khalife as an artist instead of an activist.
Marcel Khalifé will play the UT Hogg Memorial Auditorium on Oct. 20th. Discount student tickets are $10
By: Robert Weeks 10/18/07 >> go there
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