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 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" in its broadest sense, taking into consideration all the implications that this may carry. Therefore, they headed to
Beirut,
Lebanon, where they joined the newly established Oriental Roots Orchestra, an oriental-fashion "
big band" formed by
Michel Elefteriades with the goal of grouping most outstanding musicians from the
Arab world. This collaboration has enriched their compositions with various ethnic influences, making their musical style evolve towards
World music 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 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 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 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,
Cyprus,
Bahrain,
Lebanon,
Jordan,
Syria,
Egypt,
Algeria,
Tunisia,
Morocco, and the
United Arab Emirates. ==Notes==