Dubai, get ready for some "East-African retro-pop" with Alsarah and the Nubatones live concert at The Music Room on Monday, 15th June.

Alsarah, is a Sudanese born singer, songwriter and ethnomusicologist. Born in the capital city of Khartoum, where she spent the first 8 years of her life, she relocated to Taez, Yemen with her family to escape the ever stifling regime in her native country. She abruptly moved to the US in 1994, when a brief civil war broke out in Yemen.
Now residing in Brooklyn, NY, she is a self-proclaimed practitioner of East-African retro-pop. Working on various projects, she most recently has been working with The Nile Project and was featured on their debut release, Aswan (named 1 of the Top 5 “Must Hear” international albums by NPR). She has also collaborated with French producer Débruit on the album Aljwal, released this past November via Soundway Records UK.

The band Alsarah and the Nubatones started out as "a dinner conversation between Alsarah and percussionist Rami El Aasser in his living room, digging through archives of old music from North Africa, and reading about migration patterns in modern day Nubia."

The band includes master oud player and luthier Haig Manoukian and bass player Mawuena Kodjovi.They've performed in prestigious venues such as The Kennedy Center, The Apollo Music Cafe, Celebrate Brooklyn at Prospect Park, The World Music festival in Chicago, and the Festival du Mond Arab in Montreal just to name a few.

Watch the music videos below featuring songs from their album Silt. I've also embedded the album at the end of this post so you can listen to it. Beautiful voice and and lyrics, the album is smooth, groovy with a few tracks that will get you clapping and dancing.

There will be a few opening acts before Alsarah and the Nubatones come on stage, including hip-hop artist Toofless, DJ sets with James Locksmith, Essarai, DJ O))) from Beg, Steal, Borrow collective and DJ Mocity.

I am REALLY looking forward to this gig. Music aficianados in Dubai, DO NOT MISS THIS. Think it will be a fun night.