Mohamed Badawi (Oud, vocals, percussion)
Mohamed Badawi is a doctor of linguistics and founder, composer, and singer of the groups Diwan and El Nour (www.elnour.de). The oud, or Middle-East lute, plays a central role in his musical renditions. In addition to the oud, he also plays a Sudanese variation of the Bongos, which consists of three drums. He began learning the traditional rhythms of his homeland as early as the age of five and these skills influence and enrich his music. Vocally, he covers the entire Arabic musical spectrum, from the historical religious Sufi music to the lively modern music heard world-wide. He stems from the well-known Sufi family of the Quadiriyya and has lived in Europe since 1984. Since 1987, Mohamed Badawi has collaborated in numerous projects with musicians from all over the world. He has had the pleasure of working with Iyad Himour and the group Palmyre (Syria), Naziha Azzouz (Algeria), the expert tabla player Ibrahim El Minyawi (Egypt), Haja and Lego (Madagascar), and Afrique Loloé, to name a few, as well as Diara Konaté (Guinea), Haisam Salah Edine (Lebanon), Surendran Reddy (South Africa), Rainer Dost (Germany), Chiha (Tunesia), and the choreographer Peter Czerner (USA). In 2000, he took oud classes from the Syrian professor Adnan Aylouch in Damascus. He composed music for dance and puppet theater performances in Germany and Switzerland. In 2000, the lord mayor of Constance honored Mohamed Badawi in the name of the Internationaler Tag des Freiwilligen Engagements (the International Day of Volunteer Commitment) for his dedicated efforts in school projects in Sudan.
The following is a quote written in the German and Swiss press about Mohamed Badawi's music: "The delight that Mohamed Badawi experiences through his music is written all over his face. It doesn't take long until the audience experiences his same pleasure. Regardless of whether he is singing or speaking, his voice inevitably finds its way to the hearts of the listeners and the meanings of his lyrics become clear, although they are often in an unfamiliar language. His drums and stringed instrument from which he elicits a rich variation of tones, tell Arabian stories. One moment they are nostalgic, the next, vivid, gleeful or melancholy, but nonetheless adventuresome and always dynamic.
Paul Amrod (piano, vocals)
Paul Amrod was seduced and enraptured by New Orleans Blues at an early age. Part of his musical schooling took place on the streets of New York. Ultimately, he studied music composition, with an emphasis on conducting, at the world-renown Julliard School in New York.. Under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, Paul Amrod delved into the area of choral music. As a conductor, he has worked with the Julliard Orchestra, the Hudson Valley Symphony, and others. Paul Amrod gathered further experience as a Jazz musician with The Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Dave Sanborn, the Brecker Bros, Danny and Chris Brubeck, Bob Berg, Corky Laing and Buster Williams.
Uli Stier (saxophone)
Uli Stier was born in Radolfzell, Germany and now lives in the neighboring town of Constance. He taught himself to play the saxophone during his adolescence and since then has played in many regionally well-known bands such as:
Deja Vu, Red Hot & Blue, Stormy M. to name a few.
At the end of 1997, he started his own project called FunJAZZtic. In 1996 he took his first Jazz Summer Course, and since then he has taken Jazz classes from Professor Bernd Konrad. For the last 2 years, he has passed on his musical knowledge in the form of improvisation workshops and saxophone lessons.
Barbara Boldt (violin)
Barbara Boldt had classical violin training in Germany and France. She has performed with several musical groups and orchestras, notably the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Jugend Kamer Orchestra (South-West-German Philharmonic's Youth Chamber Orchestra).
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