Jewish-Iraqi Music, London, UK, Nov 23
Rivers of Babylon
Sunday 23 November 8pm
The extraordinary religious and secular music of the Jewish-Babylonian (Iraqi) tradition returns to artsdepot at The Bull in the form of the brilliant London-based Rivers of Babylon.
Venue: artsdepot at The Bull 68 High Street Barnet EN5 5SJ
Date: Sunday 23 November
Time: 8pm
Travel: Tube: High Barnet (Northern Line) BR: New Barnet
Tickets: £10/£8 conc
Box Office: 020 8449 0048
Rivers of Babylon’s repertoire focuses on traditional folk songs and hymns from Sabbaths, festivals and the synagogue. These beautiful and sociable songs are sung in Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic with a hint of Indian spice. The majority of the band originally met growing up in Bombay and cite this experience as a strong influence on their music - evident in their growing repertoire of vintage Bollywood songs from the 1940’s and 1950’s.
The group is led by Dr Sara Manasseh on drums and vocals. Sara is an ethnomusicologist and teacher of music who has extensively researched the musical traditions of the Jews of Iraq, in Bombay, Israel and the UK. Sara’s doctoral dissertation focused on Iraqi Jewish women in music performance during the twentieth century.
This performance will also feature original compositions from special guest Ehsan Aleman who specialises in playing the ‘oud, a traditional Middle Eastern lute. The rest of Rivers of Babylon comprise of a skilled erhu (Chinese two-string fiddle) player, a violinist, keyboards, a mandolin, tambourine and a whole host of superb singing!
For more information please contact:
Clare Lewis or Lydia Ruffles on 020 8275 5371