Michel Sajrawy & Yathrib
Nazareth, Northern District, Israel | INDIE
Music
Press
One of my Top albums of the year 2006.
- Thomas Kohlruß, babyblaue-seiten,
Michel is regarded as an extremely gifted guitarist, composer and arranger… a fusion of Middle East and West, with delicate and masterly guitar work by the leader and excellent support by his band and guest musicians… Superb.
- Jazzis
Michel Sajrawy saves the world (- music) … a whole sound miracle orchestra.
- RNZ
You have that smile when you smile… That is exciting, has soul, shows musical Virtuosity.
- Der Schallplattenmann
With bubbling energy, virtuosity and occasionally unbelievable speed, the musician connects Makamat of the Arab Middle East to Jazz-Fusion, Rock and world music.
- die Lichtung
Different cultural experiences exerted influence on the pieces. The fusion is not put on or "made", but felt and established. The work has a strong expressive sound, an individual style and trimmed arrangements. "Yathrib" is a special album Absolute recommendation! "Yathrib" completely belongs to my personal best 10 albums of the year 2005 (although it will be published on January 2006).
- ragazzi - website für erregende Musik
...Sajrawy is the first to truly incorporate the traditional elements of Arabic music and the Jazz idiom... His tone and fluency are truly amazing, displaying all the elements that distinguish the best guitar players from the countless others, who play the instrument... Sajrawy truly deserves to break the barrier of relative anonymity and play on the biggest stages worldwide, as there are very few players who deserve it as much as he does... just listen to this music and eat your hat ;) In this case the saying hearing is believing seems suitable more that ever! This is an essential album for every guitar lover on this planet. - Jazzis.com
Sajrawy is an expressive, appealing guitarist, and he shines as both an improviser and a composer on Writings on the Wall.
- Alex Henderson, billboard.com
Sajrawy casts a distinct voice into many of the roads frequently traversed. He doesn't reinvent the wheel per se, but injects a flavorful element into the core guitar-piano jazz quartet format. An excellent soloist, Sajrawy's insightful compositions help generate the blueprint for success. - JazzReview.com
Michel Sajrawy distinguishes himself with a warm tone, fluid and supple single-line runs, and string bending to accomplish quarter-tone steps. It all jells to create a pleasingly lilting sound. He also meshes fusion-ish jazz with Makamat (the world music of the Arabic Middle East) by combining the basic song structures of the American style with the harmony of his native region.
- Jazz.com
Discography
2009 - Made In Palestine - A Compilation CD (Baladna)
Michel appearing as composer & guitarist
2009 - Body Parts - Shammas Nahas (Aljbeneh Theatre)
Michel appearing as a guitarist
2009 – Ishtaktellak – Al Ba'ath Choir (Al Zaitoon Association)
Michel appearing as an arranger
2009 - Another World Is Possible - A musical written by Hisham Abu Hanna (Gawayesh Productions)
Michel appearing as arranger & guitarist
2009 - Pete Alderton - Cover My Blues (Song Ways)
Michel appearing as a guitarist
2009 - Michel Sajrawy - Writings On The Wall (Ozella Music)
Leader
2008 - Nizar Radwan - Haifa (Magda)
Michel appearing as arranger & guitarist
2007 - Nazek - A film directed by Ramez Kazmouz
Michel appearing as composer & guitarist
2007 - Crossing Borders - A film directed by Bilal Yousef
Michel appearing as composer & guitarist
2007 - Alex Carpani - Waterline (CypherArts)
Michel apearing as a guitarist
2006 - Michel Sajrawy - Yathrib (Ozella Music)
Leader
2005 - Nikola Marjeyi - Chrstian Music
Michel apearing as arranger & guitarist
2004 - Jihad Khamis - Meeting In The HolyLand
Michel apearing as arranger & guitarist
2001 - Samir Jubran - Sou' Fahm
Michel apearing as arranger, composer & guitarist
1999 - Michel Sagrawy - Resalet Al-Eid
Michel apearing as composer, arranger & guitarist
1993 - Alwan - Nar
Michel apearing as guitarist & song writer
Photos
Bio
YATHRIB – the name of a city, also called Medina, a five-day foot march from Mekka. And accordingly, the second most holy city of Islam , being the home of Mohammed's grave, which lies in a magnificent mosque.
YATHRIB – fertile oasis, about 200 km land inwards east of the Red Sea . Surrounded by the wild foothills of the Hijaz massif. Home of Arab and Jewish tribes. Melting pot of these cultures.
YATHRIB – Debut album of MICHEL SAJRAWYS, of a man and virtuoso guitarist, who like no other unites seemingly insurmountable differences with his vita and with his music..
YATHRIB – These are Jews, Muslims and Christians, who together create a sound experience, a music, completely at ease and far removed from any issues of faith or differences – be it on stage or in the studio – who will surely remain unparalleled for a long time to come.
Guitarist and composer Michel Sajrawy was born to a Palestinian family from Nazareth. At the age of nine he started taking guitar lessons. During the years 1990-93 he studied for and received a diploma in electronic engineering. In 1995 he moved to London, England, where he studied and completed a one-year diploma at the Musicians' Institute - G.I.T. He began a three-year degree program in music composition at The London College of Music in 1996 under the instruction and assistance of Adam Gorb.. During the years 1999-2000 Michel furthered himself with the assistance of Adam Gorb and Nigel Clark to complete his masters degree in film and TV scoring.
In 2000 he returned to Israel and established his own business Dasam Studio in Nazareth (Dasam is a word in Arabic for ''rich food''). As a band leader, he released his debut album Yathrib (Ozella Music 2006) which marked his entrance into the vanguard of crossover artists who see themselves creating an uncompromising jazz sound between traditional and contemporary. Then released his second album, Writings On The Wall (Ozella Music 2009) which marked a strong turning towards filigree west-eastern acoustic jazz. Among the jazz releases, the album became on the Top List "Best albums of 2009" of Freies Radio Stuttgart in Germany.
Michel can easily join the ranks of seminal jazz guitarists. With his band, he played in different parts of the country, toured in Germany and played the Leipzig Jazz Festival (2006), played in Geneva, Jerusalem Festival (2007) where he met and jammed with Nigel Kennedy. He played in the Netherlands (2008), the same year that the New York jazz scene had the pleasure of experiencing his explosive guitar art.
Michel has been awarded the Wilfred Joseph Prize (1998-99), Best Title in Music (2002) and the A. M. Qattan Foundation's Performing Arts Grant for the year 2007.
He worked with Abboud Abdel'All, Bashir Abdel'All, Ahmad Al-Mukhtar, Samir Jubran and Manfred Leuchter. He composed music for several documentary films, arranged the music for theatre, various mini orchestral projects and produced radio jingles for the major brands in the country.
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