A Legend…
Marcel Khalife is simply amazing … a true cultural icon… Despite facing some challenges in his North America tour, he comes to Chicago November 17th bringing with him his long known voice of reconciliation, peace, and hope… I am looking forward to his performance and will not miss it for anything - I’m skipping on a Las Vegas trip that weekend (with, umm, my sister-in-law’s parents 
)…seeing him and hearing his beautiful music and voice live tops Vegas any day!!!
He was here in November of 2004… And this is what i wrote back then:
Marcel Khalife is simply amazing … a true cultural icon…He was in Chicago this past Sunday. The theater was full of a lively & attentive yet silent crowd. Lively & attentive when Marcel encouraged sing along and clapping, and silent that you can hear a pin drop when he requested pure silence for pieces that call for that!
I am not the only one who sees Marcel as a cultural icon; Mahmoud Darwish says, “In Khalife’s song there is useful beauty and clear purposefulness…He brought back the absent emotional space needed to reconcile poetry with its alienated audience. Now, the streets sing with Marcel and words need a podium no longer.” and I must say, on Sunday the large Arab American audience proved this to be true.
Marcel has always been a voice of reconciliation, peace, and hope. Edward Said (God bless his soul) spoke of Khalife saying that “he gives voice to those great issues that face the Arab world in a way that is not only contemporary, but deeply moving … he sings about liberation, social injustice, tradition and modernity and the lives of people. He has done more than anyone, done the most to raise the level of popular music in the Arab world.”
In his concert this past Sunday, he dedicated the song “3asfoor tal min il shibak” ~ Sparrow ~ sung by Oumaima, his long time premiere vocalist, to “All Palestinian/Arab Prisoners in israeli prisons, to all Arab prisoners in Arab prisons and to all prisoners of their own thoughts.”
Before Oumaima sang ’shams il shamoose ‘ he spoke of the importance of the ’sha3bi’ traditional song and how it does not get recognized on Arabic Satellite Channels…
Marcel “seeks to renew the character of the Arab song, breaking its stereotypes and advancing the culture of the society that surrounds it.”
” I have defied identities and categorizations, which only serve to blind us to the vastness and complexity of humanity.” ~ Marcel Khalife
Enjoy some of his songs:
Oummi (My Mother)… I love it
Looking forward to a beautiful evening Saturday, Nov. 17th…
