Malayeen

Malayeen is the trio of Lebanese musicians Raed Yassin (a founding member of 'A' Trio, one of Lebanon’s most renowned free improv outfits), Charbel Haber (a former member of experimental rock bands Scrambled Eggs, XEFM and BAO), and Khaled Yassine (a former member of Tunisian oud player Anouar Brahem’s oriental jazz ensemble). Malayeen was born from Yassin and Haber's love for the music of quintessential Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid, and their desire to create a contemporary trio that would study, revisit and modernize his music, and bring it full circle into the 21st century. Master percussionist Khaled Yassine was added to the project at a later phase, creating in the process a Lebanese experimental “supergroup” of sorts. The final result consists of original and unique trio music, as the 3 musicians’ varied backgrounds collide and coalesce in subdued and restrained fashion, not actually playing Khorshid's music, but inspiring themselves from the cult guitarist’s genius to create something completely new, modern and unexpected.