Le Trio Joubran

Le Trio Joubran

Le Trio Joubran is a Palestinian oud group from Nazareth, Palestine, active since 2004. It consists of the brothers Samir Joubran, Wissam Joubran and Adnan Joubran. The group works in arabic, arabic jazz and oud, and is known for performing as a three-oud ensemble.

Background

The Joubran brothers come from a family with a strong artistic and instrument-making background. Their mother, Ibtisam Hanna Joubran, sings muwachahats, and their father is one of the best-known makers of stringed instruments in Palestine and the wider Arab world. Wissam Joubran also follows this family line as a master luthier and makes the trio’s three ouds by hand.

Formation and early releases

The project develops out of Samir Joubran’s solo career. He releases Taqaseem in 1996 and Sou'fahm in 2001, then invites Wissam to join him for Tamaas. Adnan later joins his older brothers, forming the trio. Randana is the first album by the full trio. A later release, Majâz, follows in 2012.

Individual members

Samir Joubran, the eldest brother, is born in Nazareth in 1973. He begins playing the oud at five, studies at the Nazareth Institute of Music from the age of nine, and graduates in 1995 from the Muhammad Abdul Wahhab Conservatory in Cairo. He also teaches oud, performs with poets including Mahmoud Darwish, composes the soundtrack for Ticket to Jerusalem, and is later contacted by François Dupeyron. Tracks from Tamaas appear in the soundtrack of Inguélézi, and tracks from Randana are used in Parvez Sharma’s documentary A Jihad for Love.

Wissam Joubran is born in Nazareth in 1983. He first studies violin at the Nazareth conservatory, turns to the oud after hearing Samir play, and receives a small oud made by his father for his ninth birthday. He performs in local concerts in Palestine, appears in theatre work about Moudaffar El Nawab, and performs with Samir at Paris’s Arab World Institute and in readings of Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry. In 2005 he becomes the first Arab to graduate from the Antonio Stradivari Conservatory in Cremona.

Adnan Joubran is born in Nazareth in 1985. He wants to become a percussionist before turning to the oud at fifteen, learns with the help of his brothers, and plays in his father’s shop for his first audience. He wins one of five places in a oud competition in Palestine, later joins the trio and also performs with the Fattoumi-Lamoureux dance company and in the music-and-circus work EKO DU OUD.

Performances and recognition

The trio appears at Langon’s Atypical Nights festival, is nominated for the Django d’Or awards, and is selected for Womex 2004 and Strictly Mundial 2005. It also performs at the Festival of Nyon, at Carnegie Hall in 2006, and at the Jerusalem festival in 2007. The group’s music draws on traditional Arabic maqams and combines original compositions with improvisation.

Artistic character

The trio presents itself as a project rooted in Palestinian identity and in the expressive possibilities of the oud. Its performances centre on instrumental interplay, with the three brothers using their instruments together to create harmony, depth, sweetness and improvisation.