Habibi Festival at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!

Bab L' Bluz, meaning "The Gate to the Blues," is a Franco-Moroccan musical ensemble that emerged in 2018 in Marrakech. This Moroccan psychedelic rock group draws inspiration from Gnawa and Hassani traditions, skillfully blending contemporary rock music and Moroccan popular music. The band was founded when Moroccan singer/guitarist Yousra Mansour and French guitarist/producer Brice Bottin crossed paths in Marrakech in 2017. United by their passion for Gnawa music, they embarked on a journey to master the guembri, a traditional instrument. By mid-2017, they had composed a fresh collection of 10 powerful tracks that melded modern sensibilities with the analog sounds of the 1960s and 1970s. In mid-2018, the band welcomed fellow musicians Jérôme Bartholomé and Hafid Zouaoui from Lyon, solidifying their lineup. They marked their inaugural live performance on Radio Nova. 

Bab L' Bluz's music has resonated on international stages, including festivals like Arabesque, L'Boulevard, Rock Am Bach, Le Péristyle, the Lyon Opera Underground, ARTE concerts, and their US premiere at Habibi Festival in New York City. In June 2020, they released their debut album, "Nayda!," through Real World Records. The release of "Nayda!" garnered acclaim from critics and audiences alike. It secured accolades such as Mojo's Top 10 World Albums of the Year, recognition in Songlines' Best Albums of 2020, mentions in The New York Times, Vogue Arabia, BBC, Le Monde, Financial Times, Pan African Music, Uncut, and Radio Nova. In 2021, Bab L' Bluz clinched the Songlines Music Awards in the Fusion category, solidifying their reputation as boundary-pushing creators who meld tradition with contemporary sounds. Two singles are now out for the band’s forthcoming album to be released in 2024.

Hailed by Radio France Internationale as “a Tunisian man in NY, one of the most talented jazzmen of his generation” Yacine Boulares is French-Tunisian saxophonist, composer and curator. After graduating from the Paris National Conservatory Yacine moves to New York on a Fulbright scholar- ship in 2009 to attend the New School for Jazz. NYC exposes him to a myriad of different musics. Soon he starts touring with Fela Kuti's ex drummer Jojo Kuo and Haitian Kompa legends Tabou Combo (since 2013). In their musics he finds a deep echo to his Tunisian roots. These influences urge him to seek his own identity and his explorations of North & West African rhythms lead to the creation of AJOYO, a brew of African tradition, jazz and soul. AJOYO released two albums in 2015 and 2020. (War Chant was awarded Best Global Music EP at the Independent Music Awards in 2020) In 2014 Yacine is featured on Placido Domingo’s Encanto Del Mar as a soloist and arranger. There, he meets cellist Vincent Segal and gets the idea to explore the Tunisian Stambeli repertoire with drummer Nasheet Waits. In 2015 the trio - Abu Sadiya - is granted the French American Jazz Exchange grant, the Arab Fund for the Arts and Culture and the Brooklyn Arts Fund. The album -released in 2017 - was hailed by Le Monde as “a glittering instrumental suite, all fluidity and golden colors”, the trio performed at Jazzahead in 2017 and their US tours included the Lincoln Center and the Jazz Gallery in NYC. In 2019 Yacine is selected to be a part of the Joe’s Pub Working Group and to develops the concept of Ifriqiya, a multimedia performance exploring the Afro Arabic rhythmic traditions through film and com- position. His residency also leads to the creation of the Habibi Festival in New York, the first US music festival dedicated to contemporary Arabic music. (Now in its 3rd year). In 2020 Yacine is commissioned by the Théâtre National de l’Opéra de Tunis to create Night in Tunisia, a new project re-appropriating Dizzy Gillespie’s standard through a suite of original compositions blending Tunisian rhythms, Soul and Arabic traditions. In 2022 Night in Tunisia becomes the collective OSOOL and tours the US twice (Habibi Festival, Duke University, Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, Drom, The Art- Yard...). In 2023 he is part of Archie Shepp’s creation at BAM “The Cry of My People” alongside Jason Moran, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Amina Claudine Myers, Sarah Elizabeth Charles and Amir El Saffar. Yacine is a 2023-24 National Arts Club Fellow.

Omar Offendum is a Syrian-American rapper, spoken word poet, and theatrical storyteller with a unique ability to draw in audiences from various backgrounds and generations through his signature blend of Hip-Hop and Arabic poetry. Over the course of his 20-year career, he’s been featured on prominent world news outlets (Aljazeera, BBC, PBS, LA Times), lectured at a number of prestigious academic institutions (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Northwestern, UT-Austin, SOAS, Georgetown, American University of Beirut), collaborated with major museums and cultural organizations (LACMA, Penn Museum, Ithra, Shangri-La, Arab-American National Museum, The Brooklyn Museum), and helped raise millions of dollars for various humanitarian relief groups (UNRWA, Islamic Relief, Karam Foundation, ANERA, Syrian-American Medical Society). In 2022 Offendum was invited by the Qatar Foundation to perform at over a dozen matches during the FIFA World Cup festivities in Doha. He was also named a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow (2018-2019), an Arab America Foundation "40 Under 40" award recipient (2020), and a member of both the Pillars Fund fellowship cohort for Muslim Narrative Change (2021) and the RaceForward Butterfly Lab cohort for Immigrant Narrative Strategy (2022). His recent foray into theater with the off-Broadway hit production "Little Syria" has earned him a spot in The Public Theater's distinguished "New York Voices" commission program for the 2023-2024 season, while selling out multiple runs at iconic venues across the United States (Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, The Center for Artistic Performance at UCLA, HERE Arts Center in SoHo, and Joe's Pub at The Public Theater in NYC) ... After spending 17 beautiful years in Los Angeles, Offendum currently resides in the great state of New York with his wife and two little children, whilst forever daydreaming about the jasmine tree-lined streets of Damascus.

Mona Miari, an independent Palestinian/American Artist, Singer/Songwriter, and Lawyer based in New York City. Born in Chicago, IL. Mona's journey led her to Palestine during her youth, where she embarked on her music career. Her remarkable talent gained recognition by headlining her first major concert at the prestigious "Jerusalem - The Capital of Arabic Culture 2009" festival.

Dedicated to showcasing the richness of Arabic culture and music, Mona embarked on a professional music career, taking part of various cultural festivals and concerts where she combines Palestinian/Levantine folklore into her performances and repertoire, expressing her diverse upbringing by exploring and reapplying the Arabic languages to different music genres, embracing global influences.

She has graced stages worldwide across the US, the Arab World and Europe, captivating audiences with her mesmerizing elegant talent at various prestigious venues from Lincoln Center, BAM, Drom to Steri Hall (Palermo, IT) among many others. In addition to collaborating with the renowned Little Amal organization and festivals, for their US debut. Alongside collaborating with international artists on several artistic projects as she seeks to expand her artistic horizons.

Mona’s currently recording her debut music album that features songs written and composed by her in collaboration with fellow artists from the Middle East, Europe and the US to create a transcendent musical experience that resonates universally. With boundless talent and unwavering dedication to cultural enrichment, Mona continues to inspire, leaving an indelible mark on the music world through her unique artistry and commitment to exploration.

With notable mentions in the New York Times, Arab National and Forbes, the “Arab-futurist songstress,” AKA Felukah is among the most distinct in the bilingual genre-bending scene. Born and raised in Egypt then moving to New York City to study, Felukah’s cultural identity is embedded in her music. The artist’s style and unique delivery has landed her opportunities with FIFA for the World Cup, Harvard University, the Brooklyn Museum, Boiler Room TV and more. Despite her ability to blend genres and languages, one thing remains the same for all Felukah records and projects: the element of radical love.

Zafer Tawil is an accomplished Palestinian musician based in New York City who is a virtuoso on oud, violin, and qanoun, and is a master of Arabic percussion. He has performed with numerous musicians, ranging from the pop star Sting to avant-garde composer/performer Elliot Sharpe to masters of Arabic music such as Simon Shaheen, Chab Mami, Bassam Saba, and George Ziadeh, among many others. Zafer has composed music for a number of film soundtracks, most recently Jonathan Demme’s My Favorite American (not yet released), Rachel Getting Married, andthe documentary Until When. He has held workshops on Arabic music at numerous universities throughout the United States. CDs include “Mumtastic,” by Shusmo; Gaida Hinawi’s debut CD, “Levantine Indulgence”; and two CDs by Amir AlSaffar’s Two Rivers: “Two Rivers Musicians,” and the yet-to-be-released, “Enaana.”