Artist description Salaam is a band dedicated to bringing the beauty of Middle Eastern music to the people of the American Midwest and beyond. We tend to focus on classical and folk tunes of the Mid East.

Music Style Middle Eastern, mostly Arabic and Turkish, but with a healthy helping of Klezmer and other styles from the region.

Musical Influences Mohammed Abdul Wahab, Farid Al Atrash, Umm Kulthum, Simon Shaheen. Any traditional music from the Middle East.

Similar Artists Hossam Ramzy, Peter Gabriel (i.e. Passion soundtrack), M. Abdul Wahab

Artist History Salaam was formed on the campus of Indiana University in 1993. Several of the original members played in a Persian/Central Eurasian group at the time, and were approached by a local restaurant owner about providing Sunday morning brunch music at his restaurant. Salaam initially consisted of flute, violin, viola and bass, and percussion was added after a few early gigs. We played world fusion music at first, but by 1997 had shifted our focus to traditional music. We began working with our first dancer, Katya Faris, in 1997 as well, and became a music and dance ensemble. These days Salaam has a group of dancers known as the Blue Nile Dance Troupe which appears at select sh

Group Members Currently Salaam is:Dena El Saffar, viola and violin; Megan Weeder, violin, kamanche, guitar; Hakan Toker, Kanoon, Joe Donnelly, winds and percussion; Victor Santoro, 'oud, saz, and percussion; Ron Kadish, bass and percussion; Tim Moore, percussion; Raja Hanania, percussion. Past members of Salaam: Amy Cyr, flutes; Sylvain Carton, winds; Michelle Daly, percussion

Instruments Violin, viola, bass, 'oud, saz, ney, clarinet, flute, kanoon,kemanche, rebab, dumbek, riq, naqqar, bendir

Albums "Salaam", released in 1995, recorded and co-produced by the legendary Grey Larsen at his Sleepy Creek Studios, is on the world fusion side of things................ "Raqsat Salaam", released in 1998, recorded at Farm Fresh Studios by Eric Kabisch, contains two complete dance sets..................."Mosaic", a compilation of new, old, and unreleased material, released in 2000................... "Laylat Salaam", released in 2001, was recorded by Eric Kabisch and Jake Belser at Farm Fresh Studios................."Laylat" will be re-released in the spring of 2002 by Tandem Records with new original material we recently recorde

Press Reviews "One of the more naturally euphonious ensembles... enchanting." Billboard Magazine................. "...One of the best bands I've ever seen. I love a band that 'listens' to each other and plays off of each other so well! Master musicianship! -- And a hell of a lot of fun! I didn't want to stop dancing."-Dayna Calderón, Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago...................... "Lively versions of Middle Eastern dance music... clear and not overwrought... dance aficionados have a great resource [in Raqsat Salaam]."-Dirty Linen Folk and World Music Magazine.................... Reviews of and interviews with Salaam have also appeared in "Zaghareet!" belly dance magazine; Planetarabia.com; Bloomington (IN) Herald Times; Indianapolis's Village Vine; the Ryder magazine; Chicago Reader; and other local and national press

Additional Info t shirts also available through our web site!

Location Bloomington, IN - USA

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