ELIYAHU and QADIM September 10, 2006

$12 donation. Doors open at 6:30pm. Shows at 7PM.
eliyahusills.com

Traverse the deserts of the Middle East, the mountains of northern India, and the warm waters of the Mediterranean Eliyahu & Qadim. Qadim is a word found both in Arabic and Hebrew meaning "ancient past" and "that which precedes" as well as "forward movement" and "that which will come." This group is aptly named as their music bridges cultures and brings old traditions into the contemporary world. Acclaimed for performances rendered with passion, authentic musicianship and spirituality, this ensemble consists of Eliyahu Sills, Rachel Valfer and Jason Ranjit Parmar.

Eliyahu studied upright bass at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. The Boston-born bassist played as a sideman and bandleader in renowned New York jazz clubs including The Village Gate and Small’s before discovering the ney and bansuri flutes.The ney reed flute is the oldest known melodic instrument. After quickly falling under the spell of Middle Eastern and Indian music, he was soon Berkeley-bound with bansuri in hand where he has studied under the guidance of master G.S. Sachdev. Eliyahu recently returned from a four-month sojourn to Turkey where he learned from masters of the ney Neyzen Omer Erdogdular and Neyzen Ahmet Kaya.

Eliyahu's mastery of musical styles spans the globe. He has performed and recorded vibrant sacred music of the Middle East with Za'atar, West African folk music with the Palm Wine Boys, soul roots reggae with the Original Intentions, acoustic soul with Sparlha Swa, and revolutionary Hip-hop with Rebels Advocate. He has recently performed with Persian percussionist Shirzad Sharif and appeared live with his band Qadim on KPFA's Discreet Music Archives with Jane Heaven.

Rachel Valfer plays oud, the Arabic lute, and performs vocals. She studied Maqam and Persian dastgah modal systems in Israel and Palestine for six years at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. She sings in Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic and Farsi.

Jason Ranjit Parmar is a dedicated student of tabla master Swapan Chaudhuri and performs tablas with many well known kirtan leaders in the Bay Area. He is also adept on the drum kit as well as with Middle Eastern and African percussion.

Official Website: http://www.redpoppyarthouse.org/concerts.html