Soulful Band Bassel and The Supernaturals Address the Syrian Civil War in Hometown Show

Photo Credit: CB Lindsey

Five days before Bassel and the Supernaturals left on tour in 2012 to promote its EP Dreamer, frontman Bassel Almadani’s apartment complex burned down. Since moving to Chicago from Ohio with his band, Almadani has encountered setbacks including theft and a fainting spell that led to broken teeth and broken noise. Almadani also struggles with the reality that his family is living inside the conflict in Syria. But Almadani isn't defeated. He uses those trials to inform his soul-infused, indie-funk band that he describes as “Stevie Wonder meets Steely Dan meets Asia.”

Bassel and the Supernaturals will be returning to Northeast Ohio to headline a show at the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern at 8 p.m. Feb. 26. A Kent native and his band are working on a new record that draws from Almadani's experiences as a Syrian-American and connections to his cousins, aunts and uncles that are in the throes of conflict in Syria. To Almadani, music is a way to get the message out and help further humanitarian efforts in Syria. “We’ll donate a percentage of our merchandise, but it really goes above and beyond that, whatever we can afford to send over for charity purposes we do,” says Almadani, who also has hosted workshops and seminars to raise awareness about the issue. We talk to him about coming home, how being Syrian-American has shaped his music and how he turns his struggles into art.

CM: What does it mean to return to Northeast Ohio to headline a show?
BA: My musical roots tie back to my days in Kent. I used to travel every weekend to see some of my favorite bands, and I have some very vivid memories of shows at those local venues. It kind of puts things in perspective when you get the opportunity. We’ve been increasing momentum for a really long time. When we get a show booked, you don’t think too much of it until you put that in perspective of how I viewed that venue as a kid, and the bands I looked up to. Once you take it in, you realize that it’s really neat. It’s really cool that it’s coming at a time when Cleveland is really getting back on the map.

CM: How has your connection to Syria influenced your music?
BA: There’s a lot of it coming into our next album. It’s taking me a bit of time. I didn’t want to rush the creative process when approaching this particular subject. The crisis in Syria is a very sensitive subject. People are affected by what’s going on, and I’ve taken a lot of time to figure out how I personally connect with this. As a soul musician, you can see right through it if it’s not genuine. I experience Syria through the lens of my family, the news article I read and the pain that I feel every single day. It’s constant anxiety because of my role here. I must find a way to connect back to that experience and make a difference. There are a lot of examples of that going into the new record. I’m really excited about getting that material out the door.

CM: Is there a specific song on your upcoming album that stems from your personal setbacks?
BA: There’s a song on there that hits the subject real hard. The song "Lost" relates to two stories. It’s about my cousin being murdered in Syria last year; she was a victim of crossfire, as well as a story about my guitar being stolen during a crazy rainstorm at a festival in Painesville. The song is really about that emotion of loss. Anybody can really personalize to them about something that they lost as well.

World Tour

Aziz Sahmaoui, photo by Manuel Lagos

If you missed out on this summer's sold-out Solstice, Cleveland Museum of Art's premier celebration of global music, you're in luck. Every Wednesday night in July you can soak up world beats with the new CMA concert and film series, Ohio City Stages. And there's no need to worry about tickets here, the event is free.

"It's an upscale, museum-style block party celebrating summer and the city," says Tom Welsh, director of Ohio City Stages.

The series introduces people to global musicians they wouldn't normally have access to, such as Aziz Sahmaoui & University of Gnawa from Morocco. On July 24, the band will share their interpretation of Gnawa trance music, a fusion of Arabic north and sub-Saharan south sounds, with attendees. Sahmaoui, who has only performed once before in the United States, is looking forward to playing for Clevelanders.

"We love cultural diversity," Sahmaoui says through a translator. "When people identify themselves to that powerful energy, then we all become one."

Tonight, Fanfare Ciocarlia, a Balkan brass band that plays gypsy music, will play a set at 7:30 p.m. on a stage set up on the block surrounding Transformer Station on West 29th Street. Don't worry about the gloomy weather canceling the concert — the show goes on rain or shine.

Fanfare Ciocarlia, photo by Arne Reinhardt

After the concert, continue your night of cultural enrichment with a film screening by Bellwether, a project of the museum's Contemporary Arts Society, on the lawn of the Transformer Station.

Up tonight is artist Kevin Beasley, who will show a selection of his favorite films that range form old Hollywood to foreign movies, artist films and movie trailers.

"It's films that I think are really great," he says. "I thought this was a good opportunity to show films people don’t really know about. They are kind of obscure, but they are things I like to think about."

Hugworthy goodbye by the Silver Jews

The Silver Jews played their last concert this weekend in the depths of a cave, 350 feet underground in McMinnville, Tennessee.

You might remember the Silver Jews from the August 2008 issue, where my buddy Dave told the story of knocking on the lead singer's door.

It's fair to say we're obnoxious fans of the indie-rock/alt-country band. We bought our tickets to the concert long before we knew it would be the group's last. The most striking thing, which you won't see in the video of their last song ever played above, is after the concert, lead singer David Berman came out to the audience. One-by-one, in what started in a pretty awkward fashion, the fans came up to him to give a hug goodbye.

His writing was so powerful, that even though the band can be described as having a rough lo-fi sound, that many of us felt he had touched our lives. I hope everyone has had some kind of art touch their lives like that.

Last Chance for Change: Jay Z Concert hosted by LeBron James

When I heard that Jay-Z was giving a free concert in Cleveland I figured it would simply be him jumping behind a DJ booth at a local club and rocking it out to just a few of his most popular hits. I would have been fine with that, overjoyed actually, after all he is my favorite hip-hop artist/business mogul. But when I heard it was for the Barack Obama presidential campaign and would be hosted by LeBron James, I knew it was going to be huge, monumental even. How could you go wrong LeBron James and Jay-Z together in one night sharing the same stage, it doesn’t get better than that. However, I never imagined in a million years it would be such an amazing event — complete with a live band, a DJ, an awesome light show and a video message from Barack Obama.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Jay-Z in concert, but this is definitely the most memorable. The first time was in 1999 during his Hard Knock Life tour while I was an undergrad at The Ohio State University. Now that was a great show, but it was only his second album so he didn’t have very many songs to perform. Tonight was an entirely different story. He rocked songs from his first album, released in 1996, to his latest hot single, “Jockin' Jay Z”. Fans of all ages got down at this concert and my 12-year-old son, Jordan, and I surely did. We left the show sweaty and voiceless. This was his first concert and one that I doubt he will ever be able to top. Jay-Z is a tough act to follow.

Special thanks to LeBron James, Shawn “Jay-Z" Carter, and the Chance for Change campaign for taking the time to put on such an awesome event and for encouraging people to vote.