Mike Khoury: violin
Sharif Sehnaoui: guitar, bouzouki, percussion
Raed Yassin: bass, percussion

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Violinist Mike Khoury came together with Sharif Sehnaoui (guitar, percussion, bouzouki) and Raed Yassin (bass) to create some very natural and organic improvised music during the Irtijal Festival in 2018.  Khoury said, “the three of us had an instant connection with a common understood language that predated all of us.”  The music was not a part of a festival performance but a sparate effort by the three musicians.

 

Khoury is best known for his work as a soloist, in duet with percussionist Ben Hall and dancer/choreographer Leyya Tawil and as a member of The Northwoods Improvisers, Porcelain Hammer, The Redford Civic Symphony and the Sensorium Chamber Orchestra.  He operates the Entropy Stereo label, space, and studio where he composes, conducts research and produces recordings of his and other groups.

 

Sharif Sehnaoui is a masterful guitarist and improviser.  A key member of the group A-Trio with Yassin and trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj, Sehnaoui is a wildly imaginative player.  He often plays as a soloist or in ensembles such as Karkhana.  Sehnaoui has also been one of the principals behind the Irtijal festival of Improvised Music in Beirut for 25 years.  Sharif’s work and his conviction stands for itself.

 

Raed Yassin is an accomplished bassist and visual artist.  Often playing the bass in unorthodox ways, Yassin finds beauty in simplicity and pulses upon which we can all count.  Yassin is also a member of the A-Trio as well as the wildly successful Praed with clarinetist Paed Conca.  When Yassin is not performing, he is creating new work from his base in Berlin.   Sometimes working is the space between artifacts, sonic findings and producing new records.

 

The music included on this release was recorded live with no overdubs in Bustrous Palace in Beirut.  Bustrous Palace had survived the Lebanese Civil War as well as multiple Israeli incursions and bombing campaigns in Lebanon, and the Beirut harbor explosion of 2020 and still stands today.