Kefaya, Özge Arslan, Tarek Yamani, Nesrine, and El Mizan

We’ve been listening to Kefaya, Özge Arslan, Tarek Yamani, and Nesrine lately. Kefaya will be performing together with Elaha Soroor at this year’s Nowruz festival and we are super excited that a band we’ve been following for many years now, will join the jazzhane family soon.

Coming from theater and performing arts, Özge Arslan creates her idiosyncratic and very improvised tunes. Listening to her music, we feel eternal Anatolian voices and stories are uncovered and told, even if she doesn’t always use words in her songs.

Born and raised in Beirut, Tarek is a pianist, composer and producer who taught himself jazz at the age of 19. He is critically acclaimed for music that is “full of poetry and mysticism” from revisiting the classic traditions of the Arab world through the complex rhythms and harmonies of Black American Music.

Nesrine is a Singer, Cellist and songwriter. With influences from pop, jazz and north african music, she creates a contemporary sound. She unites the entire musical world of the Mediterranean, from Algeria to Southern Europe, with an engaging stage presence built upon the strong foundation of a classical education.

El Mizan translated as "the balance" in Arabic, symbolizes equilibrium and harmony, evoking a fluidity in movement. Initiated by Algerian composer Anouar Kaddour Chérif, El Mizan explores "Magh-rock," a psychedelic folk fusion of captivating rhythms infused with Algerian chaabi and experimental music.