Sufi literature & practice, different musical genres from oriental rock to classical music, folk and world music, & tunes from Mashreq to Maghreb of arabia.
Sounds Like
"… Ruba Saqr, a singer whom [Justin] Adams describes as "the Jordanian Joan Baez…" (UK ~ 8-6-2007)
"… and then mesmerized by the pitch-perfect voice of Jordanian Ruba Saqr, a singer-songwriter and respected journalist from Amman, dazzled throughout the two hour performance. With her corkscrew curls and polka-dot top, her strong vocals and acoustic guitar skills were a big hit with the fans, many of whom were forced to stand at the sides as seats quickly filled up." (Syria ~ 5-10-2007)
"Ruba [Saqr] and Issam both tell of the s ame musical momentum across the Arab world: a young, vibrant, exploratory new audience waking up via a whole slew of inter-Arabic, East-West and North-South fusion music." (UK ~ 18-5-2007)
"In a Hugely male-dominated music scene, Ruba Saqr sure is one breath of very fresh, very talented air... Pulp magazine (Jordan ~ March 2008) ..
"...we had a few special moments of poetry blending with music and singing, where East and West met on the same stage. Ruba Saqr is the artist who created these infinite combinations creating an atmosphere filled with profound silence, to which her guitar strings bowed to her serene, but strong voice." (Algeria ~ 29-6-2006)
"My favourite was ..Ana Qindeel,' a song written by Ruba, “in a state of depression,” which was composed as part of a project called ..Adraj Amman' (Amman stairs). Ruba talks to the city, speaks with her. One can feel the loneliness and questioning but even in the dark nights the smell of fresh flowers comes through. While the city is heavy with the sound of silence one can still hear the sound of wonderings." (Jordan ~ 7-9-2005)
Ruba Saqr on Al Jazeera TV (short documentary about the artist). Al Jazeera is No. 1 Arab News Network broadcasting from Qatar.
Singer-songwriter Ruba Saqr’s work has been internationally recognised by winning the UNESCO Prize for Best Innovative Performance Bridging Traditional and Contemporary Traditions in 2007 (for performing 3 of her originals "Sadaqa", "Ana Qindeel" & "Fil Thalam" at the Samarqand Int'l Music Festival).
In 2005, Ruba Saqr won Global Battle of the Bands (Jordan finals), which also led to a UK appearance at the Astoria. She has considerable experience of working on international collaborative projects, having been recently involved in Music Matbakh (2007) under the music leadership of Justin Adams, Robert Plant’s guitarist and producer of Malian desert blues band Tinariwen; organized by the British-Council with UK's music production company, Serious.
Ruba’s family, from her mother’s side, is of Sufi origin and she has recently begun to introduce elements from the Sufi tradition into her music in commemoration of her Sufi master and teacher, her late grandmother who passed away in May 2006. When not working on her music, Ruba writes for UK-based Al Hayat newspaper (a mass circulation in Arabic langauge) about alternative & underground music in her own country, and has a music opinion column that appears every Monday in Jordan's Al Ghad Newspaper.
Love the soothing beauty of your voice, Ruba! Also glad to see you drawing from the rich Sufi traditions.I am an avid reader of Sufi books by Idries Shah and HAzrat Inayat Khan...
Planning a trip to Cairo and hopefully Jordan in December. I hope to harmonize with you physically as well as spiritually ~
Assalamu Alaykum Ruba Saqr. I am glad to make contact with you after long time. I like your songs and melodies. Yes, hope to meet with you somewhere of the world.
hii how r u ? u have nice voice :) i hope u will lsn to my music and let me hear wt do u think...maybe its strange for u lsnin to ARAB RAP! Thnx again Peace
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