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Yazz Ahmed with Emel and Rabih Abou-Khalil

An evening of contemporary Arabic Music

This December, the Barbican welcomes award-winning British-Bahraini trumpeter and composer Yazz Ahmed, Tunisian-American singer songwriter and producer Emel, and Lebanese Oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil for a curated evening of contemporary Arabic music.

Yazz Ahmed draws on her mixed heritage, fusing jazz, Khaleeji music and electronica, to create a highly personal musical style.

For this special concert, she will present two pioneering artists from the Middle East and North Africa, who have found a new home in Europe — legendary Lebanese oudist, Rabih Abou-Khalil (whose album Blue Camel was a seminal influence on Yazz Ahmed) and Emel - avant-garde Tunisian-American singer and producer, whose soaring voice was a soundtrack to the Arab Spring and who has long been crafting a unique sonic universe, crushing stereotypes and forging a path all her own.

Performing with both their own ensembles and in collaboration with Yazz Ahmed and the Urban Soul Orchestra, Emel and Rabih Abou-Khalil will take the audience on a musical odyssey, mixing sounds from the MENA region to create a contemporary, universal musical language.

Produced by the Barbican

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