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Va Fan Fahre

Title: Al Wa' Debt

Label: Zephyrus

Cat No:ZEP010
Format:CD

Our price £ 11.99
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Discovery Records
specialist music - mail order

• Based in Ghent, in the Flemish part of Belgium, Va Fan Fahre is a 12-piece band mixing Balkan brass, Arabic & Ethiopian music with jazz, funk and ska. This is their 3rd album, and as on their 2nd CD, “Romski Robbery” (2005), features the voice of Moroccan singer Aisha Haskal.

• “Al Wa’Debt” has already been high in the European World Music Chart, has been played on BBC Radio 3, is due for review in several UK magazines & broadsheets, and was recently at 13 in the European World Music radio airplay chart.

• The majority of the compositions are written by bandleader Michael Schryver, who here trades his customary accordion for rootsy organs and analogue synths. Percussion gets an extra spicy injection with the addition of Arab percussion (riqq, darbouka, Moroccan tambourine & castanets); the electric guitars of Eduardo Vega deliver some sparkling solos, inspired by the Egyptian guitarist and composer Omar Khorshid; and there’s some kick-ass brass !

• Haskal's intoxicating vocals are supple, warm and switch effortlessly between the classic Arab inflections, patter and even rap. The lyrics of three of the tracks were written by Brussels-based Egyptian poet Abdelhamid Farag, whose writings are permeated by deep melancholy and romanticism.

• Va Fan Fahre wrote the music for "Little Baby Jesus of Flandre", a movie by Gust Vandenberghe, which was selected for the Cannes Festival in May 2010.

Track Listing for Al Wa' Debt
1 Monopoly Inc. Disclosure
2 Nighttrain to Beirut
3 Akwa Melly Fat
4 Lahzet Zekrayat
5 Addis
6 Belomi Benna
7 Spices from Omar
8 Edala3 We3mel Mabadalak
9 Al Wa' Debt
10 Vff 123
11 Ya Habibi Taala
12 Monopoly Inc. Resolution

Reviews

Songlines - Nigel Tassell

The music of the Arabic world is clearly their great inspiration and they evoke the region effortlessly.

Discovery catalogue available for
Va Fan Fahre

Al Wa' Debt

Al Wa' Debt