47SOUL — Tiny Desk (NPR), Washington D.C., 2019

Recorded in August 2019 for NPR’s Tiny Desk series in Washington, this session marks the first steps of “shamstep” at the famous desk: a style invented by the band 47SOUL, blending the traditional dabke of the Levant with dub, reggae and electronic music. Formed in Amman, Jordan, the quartet sings in Arabic and English a message of equality and hope for the Sham region — Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria. Across three songs — “Mo Light,” “Don’t Care Where You From” and “Jerusalem,” drawn from the album Balfron Promise — the musicians turn the session into a party without borders, between percussion, synthesizers and guitar. Walaa Sbeit, Tareq Abu Kwaik, Ramzy Suleiman and Hamza Arnaout set Arab roots in dialogue with dancefloor energy. An ideal live filmed concert for discovering contemporary world music and the Levantine sound, this 47SOUL Tiny Desk in 2019 illustrates a creation that dissolves the borders between tradition and modernity, acoustic and electronic. A vibrant, committed full set.