By Rania Khalaf The story of the Palestinian oud Trio Joubran is an unusual and fascinating one. Rania Khallaf interviews Samir Joubran, the oldest member of the oud -playing family trio, on their latest visit to Cairo. The Story of the Trio started in the mid- 1990s in the small town of Al-Nasserain in Northern Palestine when Samir Joubran, now 35, began to perform solo on the oud... Samir's younger brothers Wessam, 25, and Adnan, 24, joined him some years later to form Trio Joubran, which soon became one of the best and most widely-known Arab music ensembles. The brothers come from a talented musical family. Their father was a third-generation oud maker. When Samir was 16 he presented the first ever solo oud concert in Palestinian territory. He studied Arabic music in Palestine and Cairo in the early 1990s, and attended several workshops in Europe. He started teaching music at his home town of Al-Nasserain and Ramallah, and in 1998 he set up Awtar Sharqiya, the first Arabic music troupe in Gaza, which was unfortunately prevented from carrying on by the outbreak of the 2000 Intifada. In 2001, and with the assistance of the Red Crescent organisation, then led by Fathi Arafat, Samir produced his album Sou' Fahm ( Misunderstanding ); an outpouring against the harsh conditions in Ramallah during the years of the Intifada -- which included the shelling of the Joubran family home. In 2002 Wessam Joubran left for the Italian town of Cremona, the home of the Antonio Stradivari Musical Institute, the most famous string instrument manufacturer in the world. For three years he studied the string instruments industry, a field of study that does not exist in the Arab world. In 2005 Wessam graduated top of his class of 23 international students at the institute. Three years earlier, in 2002 Samir, along with Wessam, had given a concert in Paris that was warmly welcomed by audience and the press. This was the real launch of their numerous concerts together. Within two months, they had produced an album called Tamas, which was produced in France and distributed worldwide. When Adnan, the youngest brother, joined them, they became the Joubran Trio and produced an album called Randana, the name which they later chose for their own music production company in Paris. Two years later the Joubran Trio was scheduled as one of the best oud ensembles in Europe, performing about 150 concerts a year in Europe and America. The Trio was nominated for the 2004 Django d'Or award, and selected for the Womex 2004 and the Strictly Mundial 2005. Following a concert for UNESCO in 2004, Samir received a shattering telephone call. His house in Ramallah had collapsed owing to the shelling of an adjacent house. "The following day I flew to Ramallah and saw the bombed house," Samir recalls. The outcome of this incident was a concert in Ramallah in the company of the late, legendary poet Mahmoud Darwish. The odd partnership between Samir and Darwish had begun coincidentally in Paris in 1996, when the two performed at a Paris cultural evening. "I was told by the organisers of the event that I would have to play oud while Darwish recited his poetry. It was my first encounter with the poet I loved so much and I was trembling all over. At first Darwish turned his nose up at being associated with this kind of musical company but he had to agree in the end, although only on condition that I only play for three minutes after each poem. But we clicked, and ever since we kept company at most of his poetry-reading sessions all over the world until his sudden death last July." Samir calls Darwish the trio's "musical source of inspiration". "We had our best times together. With Darwish, I also shared the saddest times ever, as I was the only friend to travel in the hearse to his burial [in Ramallah]." In 2005 a documentary film on the history of the trio was produced and distributed worldwide. The documentary was screened on the French ARTE channel, as well as at the Al-Jazira documentary film festival and several other festivals. The film told the story of the trio and of their struggle to achieve their dream in such a harsh political climate as Palestine. The trio playing before an audience of thousands at the Nyon Festival was welcomed at Carnegie Hall in February 2006. Trio Joubran's latest album, Majaz (Metaphor), came out in 2007 and remains a bestseller in the world music genre in Europe, especially in France where the brothers now live. In this album the trio are joined by Palestinian percussionist Youssef Hebesh, who adds new spirit to their performance. This performance highlights the three different characters, who are united during the concert by an intimate dialogue of improvisation and harmony. While with Randana, the trio's debut album, one sensed an experimental spirit, Majaz takes a more confident step that mirrors the sheer character of the trio. Masar, the first piece on the new album, is simply an improvisation of one musical phrase that lasts for only 40 seconds. When the trio stop playing another mood takes over; a mood of resistance, compassion, or perhaps a mere clinging to an old dream or a persistent childish cry. Joubran's Trio had two gigs hosted by Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafi in Cairo during Ramadan. The first was at the Genena Theatre with the company of Hebesh, and the second at the Opera House in "In The Shadow of Words", a special night dedicated to Mahmoud Darwish organised by the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo. Hebesh's appearance was one of the trio's rare collaborations with other oud players, not excluding famous players such as Semon Shaheen from Lebanon or Naseer Shamma from Iraq. "I do not want to sound arrogant, but we still have a lot to present as a trio before we are bored with ourselves," Samir says. "An oud trio is something that does not exist elsewhere in the Arab world. And this obvious chemistry among us as brothers is unique in itself." Yet the Joubrans do not rule out collaboration with other musical genres. Getting together with Flamenco musicians is one idea that appeals to them. Composing film music tracks with Michael Dana, one of the world's most famous music film composers, is one of the trio's current projects. Hence, and strangely enough, the trio's popularity in the Arab world is less than in Europe and the US. "The trio is fully booked until February 2010," Samir says proudly. "This kind of arranged future planning of concerts does not exist in the Arab world. This is why we don't perform as much concerts in Arab countries." For a long time the brothers carried Israeli passports, which cannot be used to enter many countries in the Middle East. Two years ago they resolved the passport issue, and only then were they able to perform in Dubai, Tunisia and Morocco. "Things are getting better," Samir says and smiles broadly. Ramallah is surely an exception to this rule. The trio maintain good relations with the Arab Music Institute in the town, and have set the tradition of celebrating the first night of every brand new musical project in Ramallah and Haifa. They book the biggest hall in the city, which has big screens and holds an audience of around 1,200. Free CDs are given out to audience members. "Unlike the situation of the early 1990s, the numbers of oud players, including female players, is now increasing, and the musical scene looks healthier than ever before."
