Brooklyn Nomads on Facebook

The Brooklyn-based ensemble of accomplished Arab, Turkish, Iranian, classical, bluegrass, and jazz musicians announce their nomadic journey in the heart of the borough. Interpreting Middle Eastern folk music through cultural and musical backgrounds as diverse as Brooklyn itself, the Nomads put a contemporary spin on a traditional Arabic repertoire from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, as well music from Iran, Turkey, Uzbekistan and beyond. Brass and wind, string and vocals, tap and percussion– Brooklyn Nomads create a transcendent mix of voices, rich instrumentation and innovative composition.

The rich ecosystem of NYC permitted this group to come to life: musicians from different continents and distinct backgrounds creating a hybrid of transcendent sounds. We hope to keep adding to the music around us and share the journey with you.

Hadi Eldebek is a musician, educator, and cultural entrepreneur based in New York City. In 2009, he joined Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble as a teaching artist, and later, as a performer and a composer. In 2014, he founded the Brooklyn Nomads, a collective that explores and celebrates the artistic diversity that the Brooklyn’s cultural fabric presents. Hadi is currently building two cultural startups, GrantPA -an online platform that matches artists with grants, patrons, and other funding opportunities- and Circle World Arts -a global network of world arts workshops that connects artists, audiences, and institutions together. Both projects were selected by TED Conferences as breakthrough ideas to join its 2016 TED Residency Incubator.

Mohamad Eldebek is a versatile percussionist from Lebanon based in New York City. He performed internationally with his brother, world oudist Hadi Eldebek, in numerous venues including the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing, Symphony Space, Metropolitan museum of Arts, Shanghai Concert Hall, Beirut Bobo, and other. In 2010, he joined the New York Arabic Orchestra conducted by Lebanese composer and virtuoso, Bassam Saba, and later, he joined the Brooklyn Nomads as a lead percussionist. In the summer of 2014, Mohamad’s  musical adventures brought him to tour in China and teach Arabic music and rhythms at the first world music and dance workshop in Xizhou town, Yunnan Province. In addition to his musical life, Mr. Eldebek has a Master’s degree in Neuroscience and was selected to join the TED residency in the Fall of 2016.

Ramzi Edlibi is a master drummer who has performed with leading musicians in the Arabic music scene in the USA, Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Edlibi started his career in Lebanon as part of a the Lebanese dancing troupe Caracalla Dance Co, and touring around the world with the icons of Lebanese music Fairuz, Sabah, Nasri Shams-eldin, Marwan and Wadia Garrar, and other pillars of Arabic music and dance. After moving to the U.S., Ramzi incorporated percussion and dance into projects presenting traditional Arabic music and dance. He is also passionate about studying and promoting dances and rhythms from around the world, including Flamenco, Tango, Classical Ballet, Indian, and more. Ramzi is writing a book about Arabic poly-rhythms from Morocco and Maghreb, to the Gulf and the Levant, and is the Artistic Director of Dance Around the World.

Born in Iran, Navid Kandelousi started his musical journey at the age of six by studying violin under a Iranian and Russian instructors. In 1999, Navid was invited to join The Iranian National Orchestra as a violin soloist, a position which he held until 2006 when he left Iran for Italy.  Navid studied western classical music at the Verdi Conservatory in Milano, Italy and at the Moscow Violin Academy in Russia.  In 2009, Navid was invited to join the Gateway Symphony in New York City and the International American YPHIL Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.  Navid Kandelousi has mastered virtuosic skills on a great breadth of instruments including the Violin, Setar, Taar and Kamanchah, in addition to experience with piano, tonbak, santour and gheychak. Throughout his professional career, he has collaborated with numerous prestigious Persian ensembles such as Iranian National Orchestra, the Orange County Orchestra, and has performed internationally (Sibelius, Paganini, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, etc.) across Europe, Asia and America in venues such as Lincoln center, Juilliard Music School, Albert Hall, Kennedy Center, Sydney’s Symphony Hall and Vahdat hall, while winning numerous music and violin awards. His teaching background include work at the Yamaha School of Music, Suzuki Violin School, and Master Classes in Kamanchah, Taar and Setar at the Julliard School. Navid received a scholarship from Maestro Danial Philips in Queens College of Music 2012-2015, and recently attended the Silk Road Global Music Workshop with Maestro Yo-Yo Ma in Indianapolis.

Kaoru Watanabe official site

Kaoru Watanabe, Brooklyn-based composer and practitioner of the Japanese taiko drum and shinobue bamboo flutes, is known for artfully combining traditional ritual and theater musics of Japan with complex compositional and improvisational elements of jazz and other global musics. Kaoru was a performing member and artistic director of the iconic Japanese taiko performing arts group Kodo for close to a decade. Since leaving Kodo, Watanabe has collaborated with such luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, MaArthur Fellow Jason Moran, Japanese National Living Treasure Bando Tamasaburo and So Percussion and has created music for Martin Scorsese. Watanabe has performed his compositions at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Whitney Museum and Kabukiza and travels extensively, having recently visited Australia, Germany, Argentina, United Arab Emirates and Brazil to teach and perform. Master shinobue maker Ranjo has called Watanabe’s sound on the fue the “greatest in the world”.

John Murchison official site

John Murchison is a Brooklyn-based bassist.  He has a hand in many of the various music scenes of NYC, moving fluidly from jazz and avant-garde, to pop and musical theater, to traditional musics from Africa and the Middle East. 

Zubin Hensler is a Seattle born, Brooklyn based musician. He enjoys playing trumpet with The Westerlies, writing music for video/image/dance/podcast, producing albums, and teaching what he has learned. He also makes his own music under the name twig twig.

Music came naturally to Mohamed Araki, when he started learning the piano under his father at the age of five. At the age of fifteen, he joined his father’s band Abu Araki Elbakhit. In early 2008, he came to US to participate in Sudanese festival in Chicago and Detroit. From there, he decided to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. With such diversity and great mix of student musicians from more than 90 countries with great talents, Mohamed made one of his final projects with 33 musicians on stage and four pioneer artists from Sudan (including South Sudan) such as Abu Araki Elbakhit, and Emmanuel Jal. Mohamed played with different groups such as Kina Zoré, Lamine Touré and group Saloum, and currently tours the states with Spiritual Rez, a Reggae/Rock band.

Jeremy Smith is a percussive artist whose unique versatility allows him to bridge numerous musical worlds. While the foundation of his playing comes from his classical training at Juilliard, his interests lie in a wide range of modern and folkloric percussion traditions from around the world such as those found in South America, Africa, India, the Middle East, and jazz. Jeremy is a freelance artist based in New York City. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School.

Maeve Gilchrist official site

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, Maeve Gilchrist stretches harmonic limits and improvisational possibilities with her innovative folk-jazz fusion. Touring internationally as bandleader or soloist, she has appeared at such major events as Tanglewood Jazz Festival and World Harp Congress. Having released four albums, Gilchrist has also created her own label Osinato project. She is also the first lever harpist to be employed as an instructor by Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she graduated. 

Tony Barhoum is a Qanun Player from Palestine. He started his musical studies at Beit – Almusica Conservatory, focusing on studying the Middle Eastern classical music. In 2014, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, USA to study at the Berklee College of Music after receiving the presidential scholarship of Berklee. He is currently in his third year, studying under the Arabic music master and teacher, Simon Shaheen. At Berklee, Tony shared the stage with great musicians, including Harmonica player Antonio Serrano, Kemanche player Mehdi Bagheri, and Ustad Simon Shaheen with whom he performed at different music festivals and concerts inside and outside the US, such as The Festival of Sacred Music in Kalamazoo in Michigan, the Global Festival in NY, and other.