Irade Masaa

• 1 Hakim 03:37
• 2 Fadai 02:52
• 3 Farascha 02:58
• 4 Hala 04:29
• 5 Dafa 04:37
• 6 Lullaby for Jasu 04:17
• 7 Herzlicht 04:59
• 8 Ruhakayar 04:00
• 9 Sara 04:17
• 10 Averoes 03:23
• 11 Irade 03:45
• 12 La rue 02:58
• Total Runtime 46:12

Info for Irade

Almost three years have passed since the release of the CD Outspoken and a lot has happened since then. The quartet's tour for the release took them to Tunisia, Azerbaijan and Izmir, and from Spain to England all across Western Europe. Enthusiastic reactions from audience and media indicated that Masaa would successfully continue on their path. "The music has an incredible flow, an ingenious dramaturgy, is emotionally very intense and captivates with a trumpet and flugelhorn sound that can hardly be surpassed in nearness and warmth," stated NDR Info. And Süddeutsche.de wrote: "[...] each individual shows his personal note, together they become a music that combines loud and quiet, contemplative and intense sounds, Orient and Occident in an extraordinary way." But then an unexpected change: pianist Clemens Pötzsch left the perfectly attuned band in 2018. "After some thought we decided to continue with guitar instead of piano," trumpeter Marcus Rust explains, "especially since we knew Reentko Dirks from our college days in Dresden."

The change naturally also brings about changes in sound and aesthetics, which Masaa know how to use to their advantage. Still the striking vocals of Rabih Lahoud, tastefully embellished with arabesques, are at the center; his warm timbre over several octaves and his expressiveness up into high registers characterize all songs on Irade. What has also remained are the intricate arrangements, whose powerful dynamics occasionally go beyond the common chamber musical scope. This is not only the result of the enormous range of Lahoud's gravitational voice, but also of the extremely variable playing of Rust and drummer Demian Kappenstein, unmistakably rooted in contemporary jazz. At their side Reentko Dirks now creates nuanced sounds thus far unheard in Masaa, thanks to his special acoustic guitar, from whose body two necks grow.

One of them is the usual classical model, on which Dirk plays graceful pickings and powerful or relatively hard chords. At times they evoke memories of Arabo-Andalusian stylistics and even reach Flamenco vehemence, for example in the at first quiet, later fast-paced "Averoes". The second neck is stringed partly with bass strings and partly with double strings, and there are no frets on the upper half of the fingerboard, which facilitates the playing of glissandi and quarter tones. In this way Dirks can recreate the sound of a double bass and an Arabian lute. "Reentko has made the oud sound his own and masterfully interweaves it with other timbres," Rabih Lahoud praises, "I haven't heard such diversity with this intensity from any other musician. He creates new themes for our musical dialogs."

"We have included many of Reentko's compositions in our repertoire," Marcus Rust adds, "in order to open a new chapter of the band, in which he will play a decisive role." Undoubtedly this has moved the music more towards the Orient. The string leaping of the award-winning musician, his counterpoints and the unisons with Lahoud's singing leave no doubt that the 40-year-old from Lower Saxony has intensively studied traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean. In addition, he has a profound knowledge of European classical music and knows how to purposefully abstract his already broad sound spectrum with extreme tunings or mechanical preparations, as can be heard in "Sara" for example. Only very rarely and very discreetly, like in "Farascha" for example, Dirks uses an e-bow for long lasting notes.

Marcus Rust's pieces are inspired by well-known crossover artists with Arab roots, namely Dhafer Youssef, Anouar Brahem and Rabih Abou-Khalil. "I had to rethink my composing. Composing for piano was familiar to me because I play it myself. Writing for guitar, on the other hand, required a more conscious approach. On his main instruments trumpet and flugelhorn, Rust creates diverse, often atmospheric timbres, changing from dark to shimmering to vibrant colors, from lyrical passages to rhythmic phrasing or to unisons or dialogs with Lahoud's lively melismas.

Irade means willpower and was determined to be the title of the album early on. "The willpower of my heart sleeps when I don't believe in it - for example when someone told me I had no will, I had no power, I couldn't change anything," Rabih Lahoud explains. "But as soon as I know that I have all this in my heart, my willpower awakens and I experience myself and my life in a new way. I can change things." Born and raised as a child of Catholic Maronites in Lebanon in 1982, Lahoud already questioned early on the omnipresent demand there to have to choose a side. Until today he rebels against black and white rules, with which he was confronted not only in the Middle East, but also during his studies in Düsseldorf. Fortunately, he met the trumpeter Markus Stockhausen in mid-2008, who encouraged him to explore the musical traditions of his original homeland. From Germany Lahoud developed a new perspective of the rich Arab culture, and at the same time the idea for Masaa emerged in 2011. Trumpeter Marcus Rust already had a band with his fellow students in Dresden, Clemens Pötzsch and Demian Kappenstein; the fact that the trio and Lahoud crossed paths was again thanks to Stockhausen.

Since Outspoken, Lahoud says he has "become more independent of my past, to which the work with this band has contributed a lot. I totally engage with my fellow musicians and experience the flow of music more and more strongly." The nature of Masaa's music lives from the moment, Lahoud explains, thoughts about past and tradition, future and innovation are increasingly fading into the background. In his emotional and poetic lyrics, which are like always printed in four languages in the booklet, he doesn't leave out bad things of the present. He sometimes concretely addresses fences, war and destruction, but still always keeps an eye on the beautiful and gives hope instead of lamenting. "To see reality as it is, is an important quality for me. To allow the momentary feeling, so also melancholy, is important to gain courage. For me that is the underlying mood and attitude of the songs."

All tracks on Irade were written specifically for the current constellation, and as before, the band created the arrangements together. The new, intricately woven Masaa sound is even more lively and dynamic. It shifts between intimacy and unique melodies, dazzling twists and surprising contrasts, changing tempos and grooves. More than ever the quartet creates a consistently independent, incomparable language of sound, which in many respects artistically unites what others often separate with imaginary barriers or real borders.

Rabih Lahoud, vocals
Marcus Rust, flugelhorn, trumpet
Reentko Dirks, guitar
Demian Kappenstein, drums, percussion

Recorded and mixed by Andreas Lammel at Traumton Studios, Berlin
Mastered by Wolfgang Loos at Traumton Studios, Berlin
Produced by Andreas Lammel & Masaa

Rabih Lahoud
Mit neun Jahren begann Rabih Lahoud (geb. 1982 im Libanon) seine musikalische Ausbildung in Byblos nördlich von Beirut. Dort lernte er die liturgischen Gesänge der maronitischen Kirche, in den arabischen Maquams und in den alten Sprachen. Im Alter von 15 Jahren bestand er die Aufnahmeprüfung am Konservatorium in Beirut, studierte dort Klavier und besuchte Gesangskurse. Mit 19 entschied er sich, nach Europa zu reisen und dort Musik zu studieren.

Er studierte an der Musikakademie der Stadt Kassel Tonsatz und Hörerziehung und an der Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, u. a. Komposition bei Manfred Trojahn wo er 2008 Stipendiat der Richard-Wagner-Stiftung für Gesang und Komposition wurde.

Durch einen Improvisationskurs mit Markus Stockhausen entdeckte Lahoud die Kraft der Stimme und entwickelte zunehmend eine große Leidenschaft für verschiedenste Gesangs- und Interpretationsstile, woraufhin er klassischen und populären Gesang an der Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock u.a. bei Janet Williams und Lindsay Lewis studierte.

Rabih Lahoud ist Sänger der erfolgversprechenden Jazz-Nachwuchsband Masaa und Mitglied der Band um Markus Stockhausen „Eternal Voyage“. Neben Steve Hackett (Genesis) gestaltete er 2012 das Konzert „Bridges– Händel meets Pop“ im Rahmen der Händel-Festspiele in Halle. Mit Stockhausen führte er im März 2013 dessen Uraufführung „Das erwachende Herz“ als Solist mit den Hamburger Symphonikern unter großer Anerkennung in Hamburg auf. 2014 sang er die Rolle des Ismael in der Uraufführung der Oper Abraham (Daniel Schnyder) im Rahmen des “düsseldorf festival!”. 2015 war er Solist in der Uraufführung von “Search For Buddha” (Sandesh Shandilya) zusammen mit dem WDR Rundfunkchor und dem WDR Funkhausorchester Köln. 2016 führte er, zusammen mit dem Gürzenichorchester Köln, dem Bach-Verein Köln, dem Philharmonischen Chor der Stadt Bonn und dem Herskowitz-Trio New York, Leonard Bernsteins “Mass” in der Kölner Philharmonie auf.

Neben seiner Tätigkeit als Sänger, Chorleiter und Vocalcoach (u.a. bei der Bundesakademie für kulturelle Bildung, bei verschiedenen Chören und im Sängerbund NRW), arbeitet Lahoud als Komponist. 2011 wurde sein Werk „Joseph Lamento“ durch den Chor des Bach-Vereins und dem Ensemble Concerto con anima in der Kölner Philharmonie uraufgeführt. 2015 wirkte er als Komponist und Sänger in der 6. Stadtteiloper mit der deutschen Kammerphilharmonie Bremen mit. Seit Oktober 2013 ist er an der Robert-Schumann-Hochschule als Dozent für Populären Gesang tätig.

This album contains no booklet.