São Paulo – Musician Sami Bordokan and his group is going to present a show to rescue the Arab roots in Brazilian music on the stage of Sesc Santana, on September 7. Apart from singing, Bordokan will play the lute, a string instrument similar to the guitar, but with an exclusive sound and shape. He said that the songs will “speak”. Thus, it will be possible to observe the characteristics of Brazilian music.
Those attending the event will see more than a musical presentation. They will see the history of music and of the rhythms, told in the strings of the lute and seven-string guitar, so appreciated by lovers of chorinho music.
Bordokan’s idea is to show how Brazilian music is influenced by Arab music to this day. “We are going to present an Arab play from the 19th Century and to improvise dialogues between the lute and its great-grandson, the seven-string guitar. We want to show how many Arab characteristics Brazilian music has,” he said.
The artists will also promote “dialogue” between folk music in both cultures. This is the case with “Bint Chalabie” and song “Se essa rua fosse minha”. During the show, there will also be instrument duets: the Brazilian repique drum and the Arab derbaki, as well as Brazilian and Arab tambourines.
Sami, aged 38, started playing lute at age six. He then spent his childhood in Lebanon and studied Classical Arab Music there. Back to Brazil, he returned to making presentations. Currently, he lives in Brazil and Lebanon.
The Sesc Santana show will be the first of this new tour. But Bordokan already imagines that the project may be long-lived. “Our idea is to take it to the Middle East. To Lebanon, Syria and to the countries of the Gulf, like the United Arab Emirates, as well as to Egypt. For the Arabs to know that their culture is also in Brazil,” he said.
The presentation will include Sami Bordokan (voice and lute), Alê Cueva (seven-string guitar), Willian Bordokan (derbaki), Claudio Kairouz (kanum, a string instrument), Maurcio Mozayek (daff, an instrument similar to the tambourine) and Bruno Mamsini (percussion).
Service
Sami Bordokan – Brazilian lute
Sesc Santana, Avenida Luiz Dumont Villares, 579, Santana. Tel.: 2971-8700. Wednesday, September 7, 6:00 pm.
*Translated by Mark Ament