Two new books for Dubai poetry fans

A busy season for the local poetry scene gave us book launches by two prolific Dubai-based poets: Frank Dullaghan's third title, The Same Roads Back, and Zeina Hashem Beck's award-winning debut title, To Live in Autumn. Following grand individual launch events, the poets held a joint reading session at DIFC's Bookshop readers' cafe.

After reading out a few of the most characteristic and/or popular poems from their portfolios, Frank and Zeina took questions from and discussed their art with attendees. Topics on the table included the characteristics of "good poetry", free verse vs. metre and rhyme, Zeina's peculiar but apparently effective multilingual composition technique, and some anecdotes and advice on getting published and getting feedback.

Zeina's poems lend themselves well to performance, specifically the creative punctuation and the repetition of words or lines for effect. It makes pleasant reading too, though. Generally more urban in context, the poems refer to colorful personalities, and paint you-had-to-be-there experiences, many of which seem tinged with nostalgia.

Frank's use of metaphorical flourish, combined with everyday language and attention to detail, paints lucid imagery of human and natural scenery, using such phrasing as "quality of light" and "green state of grace". One is easily transported one into the moment, into the perspective of observer or participant. The seemingly mundane is rendered intimate and significant.

The differences between the lived stories of a grey-bearded Irishman and a Lebanese woman who was a college student not long ago are evident in their respective books. There's also some overarching commonality in the use of free verse and vivid descriptions of personal observations. Both books will therefore appeal to fans of this style, while offering differences in content and delivery sufficient to warrant reading both.

Lisan al Tarab preview by Tarek Yamani

Popular JLT pizzeria and jazz club Jazz Pizza Express hosted the launch of Lebanese-born NY-based jazz musician and composer Tarek Yamani's new Arabesque jazz fusion album, Lisan al Tarab, at a packed Saturday night event.

Yamani played a two-set performance on the piano, promoting the album. He was joined onstage by local jazz musicians, the Afif brothers Rony and Elie, on the drums and double bass, respectively. The show saw good form from all on harmony and solos, making for a night of excellent jazz entertainment.

(clockwise from left top) Tarek Yamani; Elie Afif; Rony Afif

Available for eco-friendly download at great value, Lisan al Tarab is the continuation of Yamani's jazz fusion experiment, in the vein of 2012's Ashur. While it too incorporates Arabic musical elements and a piano trio configuration, there are some fresh sounds and structures to be heard, especially with the inclusions of stronger starts, Latin jazz beats, subtle bass lines, and moments when jazz and Arabic notes are seamlessly fired in rapid succession. My personal favorite track was "Fi Hulal Al Afrah", which is heavy on the Arabic rhythms while maintaining a classic jazz flow, and I also liked the piano solo "Beirut Zahra Fi Gheir Awanha".

Gypsy Swing Project Paris-Dubai CD release concert

I have been a fan of The Gypsy Swing Project ever since I discovered their winter 2013 gig at Icho. The project, which started with gypsy guitar player Alexandre Valls and bassist Lakshmi Ramirez, later joined by guitarist Samouche and then drummer Jean-Paul Wahi, brought to me the sound of real foot-tapping gypsy jazz (to which I had then recently been introduced), with evident passion for this style of music.

My curiosity about what they were up to of late (I had only seen them perform at The Market of Everything and Fete de la Musique since that season) was recently answered when I received an invitation to their album release concert at Alliance Francaise. The album, entitled Paris-Dubai, and produced by the Kamal Musallam Arts Contracting label, includes over a dozen covers and reinterpretations in the tradition of the original Manouche gypsy jazz pioneer Django Reinhardt.

The concert itself, held in the AF auditorium, was thoroughly enjoyable, with the project quartet playing nearly all the tracks from the album, each to thunderous applause from the audience. Beginning with the upbeat "Cesar Swing" and a gypsy take on "La Vie en Rose", they powered through their track list with unwavering energy, playing some more mellow compositions among more peppy numbers that got many bopping and clapping to the rhythm. A few of them featured configurations or solos that showcased the unique bass and drum styles of Lakshmi and Jean-Paul, respectively, and the gypsy guitar skills of Alexandre and Samouche. The set reached its peak with the very lively "Sweet Georgia Brown", and the encore -- a true-blue Django -- sealed a great night of gypsy jazz.

Masdar Institute launches innovation-entreprenurship lab and scholarship with BP

iInnovation

The institute's recent reorganization into area-specific research centres (putting me in "iSmart") resulted in a new centre for innovation and entrepreneurship, called "iInnovation". Many of us from the university, as well as corporation delegates and faculty from other universities today gathered at iInnovation for an open house marking the launch of the centre's innovation lab, "iLab".

Dr Bruce Walker Ferguson

Centre head Dr Bruce Walker Ferguson, who was commended in an opening address by institute president Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, delivered a presentation on the entrepreneurial ecosystem and policy issues, highlighting the educational value to students of seeing real world processes of innovation and company setup in action. The open house also marked the launch of a new entrepreneurial scholarship that would encourage students to develop business plans and possibly even set up companies while at the university. Dr Katherine Moortgat and BP Ventures' Dr Issam Dairanieh were present and presenting, BP being involved with both the centre and the scholarship.

One of our projects

After the talks, an outdoor lunch and informal poster session shone light on some existing institute research projects with entrepreneurial potential, including one of our lab's newest projects.

DUMM launches 90 Degrees North at Story Rooftop Lounge

Knowledge Village does not have very many entertainment options, but Dubai Underground Music Movement (DUMM) is looking to start changing that by launching a weekly Wednesday house music night at Story Rooftop Lounge on the top floor of Holiday Inn Express DKV --- incidentally, a short walk from my place.

The venue has undergone a major makeover from its days as the restaurant known as Vista -- itself a recommended destination. I had, in fact, dined there about a year ago. Arriving a bit before sunset got me a nice view of the last rays, as well as a happy hour rate. The food menu is small, and purportedly Peruvian; to my great joy, they did have piquillo peppers, although I wish they were stuffed with the cheese, and not buried under it.

The view around is lovely; you can see the Cordoba residences, DKV, the sea, and the buildings of The Palm. It gets even better at night. I also liked the results of the aforementioned interior decoration makeover, which gives it a colorful, boho look inside. They seemed to have some difficulties with the outdoor speakers; I hope those get fixed soon, because the music was good, and the terrace would be an even better place to enjoy it.

Galleries night and The Fridge season launch at Al Serkal Avenue

Dubai wiped summer sweat off its brow and unpacked its suitcases on September 9th, as the Al Quoz art scene kicked off the Fall season with a galleries' night at Al Serkal Avenue.

Nation Estate still

I particularly liked Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate at Lawrie Shabibi; it was a very interesting juxtaposition of a futuristic utopia with Palestinian cultural icons.

Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde's exhibition of Aisha Khalid's works was highlighted by this one piece, entitled Yourself of Yourself.

Hatty Pedder returned to Mojo Gallery, this time with images of Beirut. I loved the ones with the brightly-colored pane backdrops, and her drawing is a huge plus.

At Grey Noise, the theme of the fascinating joint exhibition Intangible experiences, arrangements and manoeuvres by Charbel-Joseph H. Boutros and Stephanie Saade was the de- and re-contextualization of objects. Quite philosophical.

The Green Art Gallery was displaying the photography of Jung Lee, each piece a different word or phrase written in neon and set in natural scenery. Although they resemble hipstagrams at first glance, the quality of the photography and the choice of backdrops and colors make them stand out artistically.

Fusion violinist Elena Thedvall and vocalist Melisa Le Rue at The Fridge

Serkal resident The Fridge also launched its music season with a singer-songwriter session, followed by some of their artists and groups performing across a range of genres. These included a great demonstration of string talent by Fusion violinist Elena Thedvall, and a clappy-happy show by singer Melisa Le Rue with the choir group Dubai Vocal Ensemble.

Sikka Score Vol 1 CD Launch at DUCTAC

Last Monday saw the launch of a compilation album of select works by the musical features of Sikka 2013. Since it was titled "Sikka Score Vol. 1", I'm guessing this is something that will happen again. I was hoping for something like this to eventually make it to production, as this year's Sikka featured a diverse selection of good local musicians. And it was really nice of many of the artists on the CD to come in and set up at the launch - held in a flattened Kilachand Theatre at DUCTAC - to perform for just a few minutes. It was a great evening, and an excellent showcase of some of the best Dubai (and Sharjah) has to offer in locally-made music, from classic guitar (Track 1, Valentin Spasov) to acoustic rock (Track 5, Harrison Rice) to beat-boxing (Track 8, Ray).

Track 9: Noush like Sploosh performed the moody "Lonely at Night", the music/art video of which was featured at Sikka in the video gallery.

Track 10: Sach Holden, supported here by Jeremiah and the Lucky Strikes, doing his folk rock piece. Ordinarily a solo artist with an acoustic leaning, his Sikka contribution was backed by an uncharacteristically large complement of collaborators from different genres.

Track 12: One of my new favorite local bands, Fables of Cantt, with their catchy synth rock sound.

Track 11: I'm always good for jazz, and Them had it going on. That's not bad grammar, by the way - the band is actually called "Them".

Track 13: One of the best (and most surprising) acts was Nada Dada's rendition of an original song about Sharjah in the style of a mid-20th jazz siren, here supported by Sikka music organizer Kamal Musallam. And it was not just the content; it was actually sung quite well, and in a very unique and pleasant genre of music. For someone who I thought was a visual/performance artist, she sure can hold a note.

Alternative Rock Festival at The Music Room

I don't think I've seen The Music Room as packed as I did last Friday at Charged's Alternative Rock Festival. What a night!

Shaun Holton

Manjeet

Shaun Holton from Projected Twin and Manjeet (whose birthday it happened to be) from Red House kicked off the event with solo progressive and acoustic rock sets.

No delays in hitting the afterburners as EP-launching band AKB (Alpha Kenny Buddy outside official circles) sprayed hot metal all over the place. A mosh erupted in front of the stage, and there was just this immense energy both onstage and offstage.

POV kept the momentum going with the title track from Revolutionize the Revolutionary, Alien Ant Farm's rearrangement of Smooth Criminal, and more.

Chronicles of Khan was next, returning after a couple years with a rhythmic rock sound and monstrous instrumental finish.

Kicksound followed with hard rock.

Goddamn Electric was last but not least in the least, with superb instrumentals and vocals. Hope to see more of them in future.

Dubai gets a Metro

http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Traffic_and_Transport/10347416.html

There is a metro stop very close to my home, close to where my relatives live, and not too far from where my university is located. Not to mention the stops near major malls and hubs. The launch also coincides with the rollout of a new unified proximity fare card system called "Nol" for bus, metro and waterbus transport. As a nod towards market segmentation and/or social stratification, there is going to be a "Gold Class" of coaches. Definitely as a nod to the segregation options available to women and families in this part of the world, there is going to be a coach for women and children too (wonder what happens if you are a father with your children). While the traffic congestion and taxi availability problem that ostensibly motivated its development have mostly disappeared due to the recession, it is still a relatively cheap*fast means of long-distance transport, and will be especially useful once the economy recovers (and may even contribute to said recovery). Looking forward to a ride on the weekend, and the remaining stations opening in the near future.