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Hawa

New Traditional Music, inspired by Sufism Hawa, is an Arabic word, used in Persian and Turkish as well, meaning the air that we breath. It is everything and nothing, and also ‘passion amoureuse’.
Chosen here to celebrate the meeting of three oriental musicians from Iraq, Iran and Turkey, it is a Project of Unity, intending to bring the common musical traditions of the region closer. Sufi poetry is a major inspiration source.

Mohamed Alnuma, Vocal, Oud
Was born in Kuwait, in 1963 in a Iraki family. During his childhood he was not only drenched in the musical colors of the Persian Gulf area, but was also interested in the contemporary Occidental music.
He went to Paris in 1981 to study solfage at the ’Ecole Nationale de Musique’ and improvisation at the American School of Modern Music.
Starting from 1984 he joined various Jazz formations, duo’s, trio’s and quartets in Paris as a guitarist.
Upon moving to Germany he started to study and practice the Oud and Middle Eastern singing and in 1991 he formed the Oriental trio ‘Alsafa’ returning to his musical roots.
Back in France he continued this musical journey and founded “Les Pêcheurs de Perles” (Pearl Divers), drawing his inspiration on the musical traditions of the Persian Gulf and Sufism but also from the Mediterranean region.
Mohamed now travels around the world, widening his musical horizon by meeting and performing with various musicians and singers from different backgrounds.

Zhubin Kalhor, Kamanche, Daf, Vocal
Born in India from Iranian parents in 1980, he started his musical journey at the age of 14, when he started learning to play Daf (the framedrum) and Kamanche (the Iranian fidel) with the famous Iranian master Ardeshir Kamkar. After having played Persian classical music (radiff) with various masters, he left Iran and settled in Pune, India where he met musicians from all over the world. Years of playing with musicians trained in different background, like classic Indian, Jazz and Blues, Turkish, Arabic etc. gave Zhubin the opportunity to experiment and find his unique style.
But to him music is not only a matter of style. It’s about transforming spirituality and the mysteries of life into chemistry with the listener.
The last 5 years Zhubin has performed solo and with various bands in concerts and festivals all over the world.
In 2002 Zhubin and Mohamed met in Turkey and felt a strong musical connection with each other. Hawa represents the essence of this communion.


1 Maqam* Lami
-Vocal and instrumental intro
Based on a text by the poet Abu Alfiras Alhamadani who lived in the 10th century. He wrote these lines in the prison where he had a conversation with a dove, blaming it for weeping while being free (in Arabic language cooing is traditionally associated with moaning).
- Golli
A traditional Iraqi song. “Tell me beauty, whence God send you?”