Derek Gripper & Rahim AlHaj - Taos, NM

Name: Derek Gripper & Rahim AlHaj - Taos, NM
Start: 2025-02-07T19:30:00-07:00
Location: Taos Center for the Arts

Schedule

Fri, 07 Feb, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

Taos Center for the Arts | Taos, NM

TICKETS
$29–44
ON SALE NOW!
For online ticketing sales: https://ticketing.uswest.veezi.com/purchase/1417?siteToken=3xr3tktns20fq4r0vpce3v18bc
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VENUE TAOS CENTER FOR THE ARTS
ALCOHOL: Yes
SEATING: Yes
OUTSIDE FOOD/DRINK: No
PARKING: Yes
ADA: Yes

South African guitarist Derek Gripper and Iraqi oud virtuoso Rahim AlHaj perform together for the first time for a three-night run of international string stylings! You can also catch them atSt. Francis Auditorium in Santa Fe on February 6 and in Albuquerque at the KiMo Theatre in ALbuquerque on February 8.

RAHIM ALHAJ
Oud virtuoso Rahim AlHaj is a 2x Grammy nominee, NEA National Heritage Fellow and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artist. Hailed as "one of the top oud players in the world" by the San Francisco Chronicle, Rahim AlHaj is a performer and composer who combines a 5,000-year-old tradition from the heart of Mesopotamia with contemporary influences. The oud is a fretless, short-necked Arabian lute central to Iraqi music. It is an ancestor of the lute family of instruments that includes the guitar. AlHaj is a cultural ambassador for the deep musical heritage of his homeland. His music evokes the experience of exile, new beginnings, and “the message of peace and compassion and love” that he shares with audiences to heal a world beset by conflict. Rahim's previous collaborations range from jazz innovator Bill Frisell to Indian sarod master Amjad Ali Khan; the Seattle Symphony Orchestra to indie rockers REM, and dozens more.

DEREK GRIPPER
It took Derek Gripper untold hours of painstaking work to transcribe note-for-note the complex compositions of Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté and find a way of playing them on six-string guitar. The results appeared on his ninth album, “One Night on Earth,” an unprecedented meeting point between the written tradition of Western classical music and the oral tradition of the West African griots. On hearing the album classical guitar legend John Williams said he thought it was “absolutely impossible until I heard Derek Gripper do it". Ever since, Gripper has taken his well-traveled instrument into previously unimagined realms, with worldwide touring leading to performances and collaborations with Ballake Sissoko, Kaki King, John Williams, Debashish Bhattacharya, and Toumani Diabate with over twenty studio records, both solo and in collaboration. His most recent record is with kora master Ballaké Sissoko, was honored with 2024 Songlines Critic Choice Award for Best Album.