The Fridge Concert Series Season 28: Majaz & Noon supported by Sultan Saffron at The Fridge on Saturday 26 January 2019.
For the first Fridge Fringe of 2019 we are proud to present our musical neighbours all the way from Bahrain, Majaz. Joining them on stage are Dubai based fusion trio NOON.
MAJAZ have managed to strike the perfect balance between familiarity and originality.
Their fusion of folk, jazz, prog-rock and traditional music - from African rhythms to pearl diving chants - has proven popular wherever and whenever they played.
2018 has been a pretty busy year for the Bahrain outfit, performing to thousands of crowds across the region, participating in major festivals and gaining a solid following in the process.
Whether they play a small intimate venue, or in a stadium in front of 20,000 people, they bring the house down.
The release of their crowd-pleasing single “Mashujaa wa Janguaa” cemented them as a group that can produce catchy, yet challenging, accessible music. And with a new record in the works, this is a band that’s hitting its stride.
NOON are the kind of band you might expect, or rather hope, to encounter in the UAE – an audio approximation of the Emirates’ cluttered cosmopolitanism and contemporary, borderless ethos.
Made up of three players, drawn from different cultural and musical backgrounds, the instrumental trio bravely embody, and certainly enliven, the hackneyed idea of East/West musical fusions.
Up front is the sound of the oud, the most typical international marker of all things Middle Eastern.
But sonically framed by electric bass and drums – and freed by the improvisatory impulses of jazz – NOON’s collective sound is distinctly global.
Shades of funk groove, African and Indian percussive rhythms and electronic effects pepper this sonic stew.
The effect is a little like a proggy, post-rock power trio, only with an oud where the electric guitar is supposed to be.
They call it “experimental Oriental” – a knowingly exotic abstraction, for sure, but of the very best kind.\
Opening up the night will be singer/songwriter Sultan Saffron the creative outlet of Bahraini musician and Singer-Songwriter Ali Milad; a cumulation of dark experiences told through crude, Acoustic Guitar-driven melodies and haunting lyrics.
Milad, 26, picked up the bass at age 12, and has played in several bands before recently breaking out on his own.
His rhythmic and melodic playing, attributed to his background as a bassist, brings out a unique sense of intimacy that is very much evident in his music.
Influenced by the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Tallest Man On Earth, Sultan Saffron's raw, rugged sound sets a melancholic tone that is hard to forget.
Come hungry because we will have Dilly's Rolling Stove serving up some deliciousness to satisfy your tastebuds!
Timings:
Saturday 26 January 2019 from 8pm until 10pm.
Doors open 7.30pm
Price:
• AED 50 General Admission
• AED 30 Children aged 13 to 21 years
• FREE Children under 13 years
