Brothers of the Baladi

The Brothers of the Baladi is a World music band based in Portland, Oregon, USA, that plays both traditional Middle Eastern music, and also combines traditional Middle Eastern and western sounds and instruments for a unique Worldbeat sound. Band leader/percussionist/vocalist Michael Beach provides lyrics in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, French, Spanish, Kurdish, Armenian and English, and the band features many traditional Middle Eastern instruments including oud, saz, mizmar, midjwiz, arghool, doumbek, riq, def, , bendir and davul.

The Brothers of the Baladi was formed by band leader/percussionist/vocalist Michael Beach in Yuma, Arizona in 1975 to back up local Belly Dancer Zamara. Beach, who had fallen in love with the sounds of the Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and Persian music in Zamara's collection of cassette tapes and LPs, initially began accompanying the tapes on a hand drum, but soon recruited Colby Girard, Joshua Mertz and Pete Walter to try to emulate the music with a mix of doumbek, bongos, dulcimer, 12-string guitar, recorder, and clarinet. The band got its name when, one night as Zamara was being introduced by El Hakim (Josh Mertz), he spontaneously introduced the band as "The Brothers of the Baladi."

A chance turn of events in 1978 found Beach and his hand drums on The Main Stage of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, performing with the world-renowned composer/conductor David Amram. This performance was a life-changing experience for Beach. Later that same year, Beach was in Santa Cruz, CA where he heard and was inspired by the widely popular Middle Eastern band, Sirocco.

In 1978, Beach moved to Oregon and connected with multi-instrumentalist Joseph Pusey. Beach and Pusey resurrected the Brothers of the Baladi name to perform at a local benefit, and the band began playing regularly at The Mouse Trap in Grants Pass, Oregon.

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