Rouba3i

Rouba3i (ruba’i) – the arabic word for quartet – was created in 2002 when three pioneers of free improv in Beirut and Irtijal Festival founders Christine Abdelnour, Mazen Kerbaj, and Sharif Sehnaoui, invited percussionist Le Quân Ninh for a quartet (Rouba3i1). They kept on performing as a quartet with various guest percussionists ever since. The trio’s common history started around the mid nineties, when they developed a love of improvisation and a keenness for new meetings, hence the Rouba3i principal is an ideal combination of both working together and interacting with a fourth musical identity. Notable percussionists in the quartet’s lifespan include Michael Zerang, Fabrizio Spera, Sven-Åke Johansson, Charles Hayward, and Burkhard Beins, among many others. In the 19th configuration of the band, they are joined by seminal Australian drummer Tony Buck.