Tarabband

Tarabband has made a name for itself in a few years now, including a gig at last year's (2011) and 2012 Folk and World music gala where they performed a Fairouz song. Now that the group's debut album is released it contains only the band's original songs. The Iraqi-Egyptian singer and Saz player Nadin Al Khalidi - ten years living in Sweden- writes the lyrics, and the other five members composing the music. It is a wise choice to stick to their own material, because they are very good compositions. The melodies are beautiful and the accompaniment on guitar, bass and the two percussionists fits great. It all seasoned with stylish choirs. The influences are wide and here and there you hear elements of both flamenco and Gnawa, but nothing feels the least sprawling. Tarabband are Dan Svensson (percussion, ney) and Gabriel Hermansson (guitar, oud), also in the band "Alla Fagra" and Filip Runesson (violin) from the band "Östblocket", and percussionist Stephan Jarl and French-born bassist Romain Coutama. - Rasmus Klockljung - Lira Music Magazine, Sweden

Malmo-based Tarabband moves in a borderland between north and south, between the Arabian heat and Nordic coolness. The group is lead by the singer Nadin Al Khalidi, originally from Iraq, who also writes the lyrics while the music is composed by the other band members. The debut "Ya Sidi" shows how well the group combines their sound. The album contains ten original songs, where the music carries quite clear scents of Egypt and Iraq, which is reinforced by the Arabic singing. Some of songs pull further down in Africa, as evocative "Yasmin".
At the same time it meets the Nordic sound, peaceful, stretched. This record is an exciting crossroad. Less successful is the Pop touch that appears on some of the tracks.
The project's strength is in the song. There there is contagious passion! - Gert-Ove Fridlund - Hallands nyheter, Sweden

Tarab in Arabic is the state where music and emotions are deeply united, and this Swedish / Arabic constellation succeeded remarkably well with that. The singer Nadin Al Khalidi, who left war-torn Iraq a few years ago takes the performance to a high level with her clear, beautiful voice. Then the group's well composed music makes it even better. The music travels from Cairo to Baghdad over Malmo in a mix of Islamic Sufism, pop, folk and traditional. For Tarabband there are no boundaries, neither for their music. - Kenneth Hammargren - Varmlands Folkblad , Sweden

It all started after she had to flee her home country Iraq, that Nadin Al Khalidi concidered
performing in Arabic; Arabic traditional music. Today she's Tarabbands central figure as a band leader, singer and writer of all the lyrics. They are about Nadin childhood in Iraq, experiences as a refugee first in Egypt and then in Sweden, about everyday life, love and sorrow. The group is based in Malmo and the other members - except the Caribbean bassist - are Swedish (Hermansson, Runesson and Svensson) and it is they who created the music with strong Arabic inspiration.
Tarab is an Arabic expression that means "the ecstasy that can arise when music and emotions unite" and the group's first album Ya Sidi is a good illustration of this. - Ulf Torstensson - Norran ,Sweden

This voice and her Iraqi and Egyptian roots dominate the sound on Tarabband's debut album. Nadin Al Khalidi has also written lyrics about longing for the home country, passionate and broken love, to feel safe and home in this big world and a dictatorial president who most deserve contempt. Ya Sidi is a dynamic record. The title track “Ya Sidi”, for example carries a salsa-touch, and other tracks carries flamenco. The group balances different rhythms that pulsate through the record elegantly. - Alexander Agrell - Sydsvenskan , Sweden

Mollevangen / The Mill Square in Malmo is perhaps Sweden's best known multicultural quarters. For the Iraqi born singer Nadin Al Khalidi and her motley band to be settled by that square feels so much right. Together they create a suggestive musical mixture of Arabic music in the first place but rich in elements of Swedish folk, pop, flamenco, Gnawa and a lot more.
The duplicitous texts (which are translated to English) are sometimes about love and about her strong memories of her homeland she had to flee , Iraq. A musical mixture of the highest class, where talented musicians with diverse backgrounds are united in an equally passionately as sharp way. - Gothenburg Post , www.gp.se , Sweden

Based in Sweden, six-member ensemble Tarabband unites musicians from Sweden, France and Iraq, who are dedicated to the musical cultures of North Africa. Thanks to the art of singing the female lead Nadin Al Khalidi, you have to read to come out that the songs in the cool Malmo have emerged. But that is indeed the sun-drenched south of Sweden. So all a matter of perspective. 'YA SIDI', the debut of Tarabband any event listeners in the North and South, East and West recommended.
The band could easily take the ferry times and translate across the sea, even if it is only the Baltic Sea. Conclusion: Recommended! - Holger Brandstaedt Folk World www.folkworld.eu Germany