'It is enough I am in Alexandria': Lebanese musician Rima Khcheich

“It is enough I am in Alexandria,” Rima Khcheich told the crowd at Alexandria’s Bibliotheca with a laugh during last Friday's concert. Khcheich performed in Alexandria as a part of the 14th Bibliotheca Alexandrina International Summer Festival and was joined on stage by Tony Overwater on double bass, Maaretn Ornstein on clarinet, Yuri Honing on drums, and Maarten Van Der Grinten on guitar. Bringing classical Arabic music back to life, Khcheich has created a compelling concoction with the resonance and nostalgia of the muwashahat, a type of Arabic music featuring traditional instruments, and the soothing jazz component of band music. A typical muwashah, which is common in classical Arabic music, is a form of Arabic poetry which finds its structure in the root of the word mushahta, meaning rhythm. Accordingly, a muwashah contains a continuous rhyme throughout each beit or verse. A muwashah in music usually begins with an instrumental or solo, as Khcheich and her band did not fail to present us with. Thus, it is Khcheich’s exceptional musical background and immersion in classical Arabic muwashahat with a jazz-infused twist that draws fans to her concert – a fan base which piled in to the Bibliotheca just minutes after doors opened on Friday night. Maarten Ornstein, Khcheich’s clarinet player, began the concert’s opening muwashah with his instrument, followed by the guitar, drums, and double base, as Khcheich began to sooth the crowd with her voice. “This is a song for you; circles, stars, and the orbit The companionship of the moon and the touch of bliss. Your gravity is strong And I am falling in love with you” These are the words of the third song Khcheich performed, Falak (“Orbit”) off her album by the same name. Maarten Van Der Grinten, the guitarist, opened the song with a minute long guitar-solo, creating a mix of guitar strums of the classical melodies of age-old muwashahat, and Khcheich’s captivating vocals. The audience were left in awe. Before opening Damaa w Zahra (“A Tear and a Flower”), a Zaky Nassif classic, Khcheich talked about how much she loves the qanun, an Arabic stringed instrument, the influence of which is obvious in her music. It was during this song that one could draw parallels between Khcheich’s renditions of classical muwashahat and those of other Arab music icons such as Fairouz with her unforgettable Bent El-Shalabiyya (“Barefoot Girl”).