Megan Radford / Tunisia Live

From the first melancholy notes to the last ringing strum, Palestinian brothers Trio Joubran had the audience in Hammam-lif theater mesmerized during the last show of the Boukornine Festival.

“We do our job with a lot of emotions, with a lot of love,” said middle brother Wissam Joubran after the performance.

Wissam and his brothers Samir and Adnan come from a family of oud makers and musicians. The brothers make their own instruments, and play them with the joy and easy grace of experienced musicians. They were joined on stage by percussionist Youssef Hbeisch whose various percussion instruments kept up the beat during their complex ensembles.

“Palestine is a country still under occupation. That’s why sometimes maybe our music is a little dark,” Wissam explained. Sometimes, he said, people will tell the trio that their concerts bring tears to their eyes. “It’s normal, because the music comes out from our hearts. It’s actually the translation of all the Palestinian people. This is our message.”

The concert was held just a short distance away from the neighborhood of Hammam al-Shatt in the southern suburbs of Tunis, where in 1985 the Israeli air force bombed the headquarters of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In total, more than sixty people were killed, both Tunisians and Palestinians. Tunisia and Palestine have a strong history of supporting each other. But last night, instead of calling for Tunisians to join the Palestinian fight for independence, the trio merely thanked the crowd for their support and let their music do the talking.

Youngest brother Adnan explained, “Our art is much stronger…towards any enemy. If we just speak art and pure art without any words, it can reach a larger public. We go on stage and we show the public that there is culture, there is history, there is a story behind us, which is a stronger message that we can give to the enemy. We hope one day to go on stage and to not speak about this.”

This being their fourth trip to Tunisia, Adnan reflected on the change in the country. “The people are happy and they’re free…they’ve struggled a lot. We congratulate them for the Revolution. We are with them, we support them. We appreciate all their efforts, and as well their support for the Palestinians.”

The concert, called “In the Shadow of Words,” was a tribute to Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, whom the brothers have known for over a decade. Shortly before Darwish’s death, they had planned to make an album with him. His sudden passing was a tragedy for the group, and they released an album with recordings of his voice taken from their concerts together.

Those recordings played over the sound system last night, with Darwish’s voice ringing out on its own, or weaving into the sound of the ouds.

There was a sense of intimacy about the concert, from the seamless way the Joubrans seemed to anticipate each other’s every move, to the voice of their mentor echoing around the amphitheater, to the way they leaned over their instruments to tune them, listening to them as you would to a child.

The Trio include improvisation in their performance, and last night it was flawless. The way they would stop playing suddenly, and then, in the silence, begin again in harmony was so perfect the three seemed to be reading each others’ minds. “They are well trained,” joked eldest brother Samir from the stage, motioning towards his little brothers.  The three did several pieces where they used their ouds to speak to one another, taunting, arguing, or doing a classic musical call and response.

Adnan and Wissam expressed their gratitude to the Tunisian people for asking them to return. Before closing the festival of Boukornine, they played in Carthage and Sfax. “There are a lot of cultural events in Tunisia,” enthused Adnan. “It’s a big honor for us to be here again and again. We are falling in love in this perfumed country.”

Wissam agreed, “The Tunisian people…without them we are nothing. I thank them very much from the bottom of my heart for this invitation. We are sure that this is not the last time we are here.”

http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/08/15/trio-joubran-weave-together-palestinian-poetry-and-music/