The Arab Blues blends Arab heritage and Chicago blues
Doors : 7pm, start 7:30pm

The Arab Blues traces an innovative and ecstatic trajectory between the call of tradition and the response of the diaspora. Their synthesis is an amalgam of Arab tradition and Chicago Blues, a sonic expression of the power and persistence of il Turath within the unique cultural conditions of North America.  

Karim Nagi is an Egyptian native and Rami Gabriel is of Lebanese-Egyptian descent, and they both bridge the gap between tradition and innovation, using their Middle Eastern heritage and passions for Chicago’s jazz and blues scene. Gabriel plays guitar, oud and buzuq, while Nagi plays riqq and tublah, at least.  The result is an original expression of immigrant artistry with passionate musicality and revolutionary attitude.

"The hermetic mixture of these musical elements make for a miraculous sonic blaze. It's like receiving a smoldering telegram in the ear from a vivid and ancient world." (Evanston Round Table)

Nagi is an Egyptian native and Gabriel is of Lebanese-Egyptian descent, and both of them bridge the gap between tradition and innovation, using their Middle Eastern heritage and passions for Chicago’s jazz and blues scene. Gabriel plays guitar, oud and buzuq, while Nagi plays riqq, tublah and drum set.  With the help of a research fellowship at the Center for Black Music Research, two Illinois Artist grants and a decade of experience as a jazz and blues musician in Chicago, Gabriel established the Arab Blues. Nagi has been recognized as a two-time beneficiary of the Doris Duke Building Bridges grant for Muslim Artists and TEDx speaker. Both are involved in education, with Gabriel being a professor of psychology at Columbia College and Nagi being a teacher who has performed at more than 500 school assemblies with Arabiqa.