Farid and Rami Chehade, who perform professionally as the Chehade Brothers, are Palestinian–Lebanese musicians and singers. Natives of the

Old City of Jerusalem The Old City of Jerusalem (; ) is a walled area in Jerusalem. In a tradition that may have begun with an 1840s British map of the city, the Old City is divided into four uneven quarters: the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Arm ...

, Farid (born in 1975) and Rami (born in 1976) Chehade started studying music at a very young age and have come to master the oriental musical and poetical art forms of

zajal ''Zajal'' () is a traditional form of oral Strophic form, strophic poetry declaimed in a colloquial dialect. The earliest recorded zajal poet was Ibn Quzman of al-Andalus who lived from 1078 to 1160. Most scholars see the Andalusi Arabic ''zajal' ...

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

, hija'a and

taqsim ''Taqsim'' ( / ALA-LC: ''taqsīm'', , , ) is a melodic musical improvisation that usually precedes the performance of a traditional Arabic, Kurdish, Greek, Middle Eastern, Iranian, Azerbaijani or Turkish musical composition. ''Taqsim'' tradi ...

. Their professional career as ''The Chehade Brothers'' was launched by multifaceted artist and producer Michel Elefteriades. While Rami is the singer in the band, both brothers demonstrate virtuosity in playing all known Arabic musical instruments, ranging from melodic instruments like

oud The oud ( ; , ) is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument (a chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses, but some models have ...

buzuq The ''buzuq'' (, ; also transliterated ''bozuq'', ''bouzouk'', buzuk etc.) is a long-necked fretted lute, similar to the ''bozuk düzen bağlama'' likely originated in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in the Levant, where it is prominen ...

, kanun, kamanja and

ney The ney ( ; ) is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in traditional Persian, Turkish, Jewish, Arab, and Egyptian music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played for over 4,500 ye ...

to rhythmic instruments like

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

, katem and riq.

Career

Until the late 1990s, Farid and Rami Chehade had performed in numerous concerts in a number of Arab countries and in some international festivals representing

Middle Eastern music The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Kurdish music, Armenian music. Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cyp ...

around the world. Yet, the two brothers were dreaming of a career well beyond the patriotic and revolutionary scene or the circuit of cultural festivals where they merely performed folkloric Palestinian songs; they wanted to make their mark on "

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

" in its broadest sense, taking into consideration all the implications that this may carry. Therefore, they headed to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, where they joined the newly established Oriental Roots Orchestra, an oriental-fashion "

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

" formed by Michel Elefteriades with the goal of grouping most outstanding musicians from the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. This collaboration has enriched their compositions with various ethnic influences, making their musical style evolve towards

World music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

fusion, while keeping clearly Middle Eastern roots; a style promoted as belonging to "Nowheristani" music.

Album

Their collaboration with Michel Elefteriades has also yielded the Chehade Brothers' first album. Composed by the two brothers and arranged by Elefteriades, the album captures the time-honored

Tarab Tarab () is a classical Arabic music genre rooted in folk and traditional styles, popular throughout the Arab world. In its classical form, it is primarily vocal, with several genres such as adwar, qasida, mawawil, qudud, and muwashahat. Umm ...

mood. They were helped by poet Elia Azar who contributed to the album a set of poetic lyrics that only the talent of the brothers, coupled with Elefteriades' mastery of

World Music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

fusion, could turn into such subtle music, best known in the eastern notion as "inaccessible simplicity". This first album, titled ''A Bridge Over the Mediterranean'', was released by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

in 2004.

Award nominations

The Chehade Brothers were nominated for two BBC Awards for World Music in 2005: * BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards * BBC Radio 3 Audience Awards (Finalists)

Present

In 2005, the Chehade Brothers began touring throughout Europe and the Middle East, performing in the United Kingdom, Spain,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chehade Brothers Palestinian male singers Middle Eastern music World music groups Sibling musical duos Musicians from Jerusalem Musical groups established in 2003