Profile:
Marcel Khalife's Lebanese musical traditions. Weekend Edition -
Saturday (NPR); 10/23/2004; SCOTT SIMON
SCOTT
SIMON, host:
Fans of world
music know Lebanese musician Marcel Khalife as the Bob Dylan of
the Middle East. That's because Mr. Khalife is considered a cultural
icon in that region, known for revamping traditional music. He's
a singer and a virtuoso on the oud, the Arabic version of the lute.
Marcel Khalife is now touring the United States. NPR's Neda Ulaby
has this report.
(Soundbite of
music; fans singing in foreign language)
NEDA
ULABY reporting:
When Marcel
Khalife performs, his fans sing along. They know every word by heart.
Tens of thousands of people all singing together is not at all uncommon
for Khalife's concerts in the Middle East. His fans feel a personal
connection to how he marries two vital traditions in the Arab world,
classical music and poetry.
(Soundbite of
music; fans singing in foreign language)
ULABY:
This song exhorts people who feel drained of pride to walk
with dignity, their backs straight, their heads held high, and to
carry an olive branch even when in mortal peril. But Marcel Khalife's
latest CD is instrumentals only. It's called "Caress."
(Soundbite of
music)
Mr.
MARCEL KHALIFE (Musician): (Through Translator) Everything
in life is caressing. You can caress each other, you can caress
life. You can even feel that it is a little bit erotic if you want.
Why not?
ULABY:
Marcel Khalife has always been a little provocative. He
helped transform the way people think about the oud. The round-bellied,
short-necked lute wasn't originally a solo instrument. It was used
in ensembles or to accompany a human voice. Sami Asmar is an expert
in Arabic music. He says Marcel Khalife elevated the oud's stature
through his compositions and masterful playing.
Mr.
SAMI ASMAR (Arabic Music Expert): Now people listen to
the oud for the sake of listening to the oud.
(Soundbite of
music)
ULABY:
Marcel Khalife combines the most ancient Arabic musical
traditions with Western influences and instruments like piano and
upright bass. He composes film scores, music for dance, and he's
a conductor, too. But Khalife, who was born in 1950, didn't come
from a musical background.
Mr.
M. KHALIFE: (Through Translator) I was born long ago in
a sea village called Amchit. It's surrounded by nature which extends
from the sea all the way to the high mountains, and I was always
surrounded by voices of fishermen, farmers, shepherds.
ULABY:
And for him, Khalife says, those voices resonate still.
Mr.
M. KHALIFE: (Through Translator) 'Cause in my music you
will find these voices of the sea, the voices of the intense sun.
ULABY:
Marcel Khalife's family are Maronite Christians. He says his first
compositions brought together church hymns and Muslim recitations.
Seamless cultural blending is part of what makes Khalife so innovative.
That spirit of transcending boundaries still guides his work.
Mr.
M. KHALIFE: (Through Translator) It's based on openness,
openness to the West, openness to the East and the basic thought
is that the other is not an enemy but the other is a human being
that you should get to know.
ULABY:
During the Lebanese civil war two decades ago, Khalife and his audiences
braved sniper bullets and missile blasts to hold public concerts.
When he wasn't on stage, he cloistered himself in his village where
it was relatively safe. But there wasn't much to do.
Mr.
M. KHALIFE: (Through Translator) I only had few books of
poetry and these were the books of Mahmoud Darwish.
ULABY:
Darwish is a well-known deeply political Palestinian poet. Like
Khalife he's secular and wildly popular in the Arab world. Marcel
Khalife starting setting his words to music, but one song led to
terrible trouble. The poem used a line from the Koran and Khalife
found himself in court.
(Soundbite of
music)
ULABY:
Sami Asmar.
Mr.
ASMAR: He was accused by an overzealous prosecutor in Lebanon
of offending Islam by putting to music a phrase from the Koran.
ULABY:
Khalife sang the song and the offending phrase at a press conference
shortly before the trial in 1999. The phrase quotes from the story
of Joseph and Isaac that also appears in the Bible.
(Soundbite of
press conference)
ULABY:
The trial was a sensation in the Arab world and covered internationally.
Over a thousand Arab intellectuals signed a statement supporting
Marcel Khalife, and hundreds of supporters demonstrated on his behalf
in Beirut.
(Soundbite of
demonstration)
ULABY:
The case was dropped. Although the trial raised Khalife's profile
in the West, Sami Asmar says the artist did not enjoy his newfound
notoriety.
Mr.
ASMAR: He was hurt. He was deeply hurt and you can feel
that he was probably depressed. I noticed that after the incident
he moved away from singing and closer to instrumental compositions.
(Soundbite of
music)
Mr.
ASMAR: Perhaps instrumental music is less controversial.
ULABY:
While Khalife says he does not go out of his way to seek controversy,
he's not shy about expressing his views. He's soft-spoken but firmly
critical of US policy in the Middle East.
Mr.
M. KHALIFE: (Through Translator) An occupier cannot force
a peace on the occupied. To have peace one must have respect for
human relations. One must have justice in human relations and one
must spend a lot of time understanding each other and trusting each
other.
ULABY:
Marcel Khalife draws huge crowds of Arab Americans in the US cities
where he performs. But he hopes his music will appeal to people
outside the expected communities.
Mr.
M. KHALIFE: (Through Translator) I never liked the ghetto.
I never liked the people who live alone without interacting with
other people.
(Soundbite of
music)
ULABY:
This piece from Khalife's latest CD is called "Passport."
The pianist is Marcel Khalife's son.
(Soundbite of
music)
ULABY:
Rami Khalife just turned 23. He graduated from the Julliard
School of Music in New York. He says his father encouraged him to
immerse himself in Western classical music.
Mr.
RAMI KHALIFE: We speak a different language, but the root
is the same. The essence is exactly the same. The feelings are the
same.
ULABY:
Rami Khalife and his brother, a percussionist, are on tour
now with their dad. Music is a guiding force for all three of them.
Mr.
M. KHALIFE: (Through Translator) Let us be clear that music
alone cannot do a lot. It is just a part of life which add happiness
and a bit of comfort. It is intangible and follows the human spirit.
ULABY:
Marcel Khalife likes to remind his listeners that he draws from
a tradition of cross-pollination between Arabic and Western music
that he traces to the Middle Ages. His goal, he says, is to go forward
and backward in time and strive to carry that curiosity in humanity
into the future. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.
(Soundbite of
music)
SIMON:
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.
Content
and Programming copyright 2004 National Public Radio, Inc. All rights
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