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Lebanon Misses Festivals amid Economic Crisis

Musicians from the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra perform during a concert in the ancient northeastern city of Baalbek, Lebanon, Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Musicians from the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra perform during a concert in the ancient northeastern city of Baalbek, Lebanon, Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Lebanon Misses Festivals amid Economic Crisis

Musicians from the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra perform during a concert in the ancient northeastern city of Baalbek, Lebanon, Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Musicians from the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra perform during a concert in the ancient northeastern city of Baalbek, Lebanon, Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Over the past two years, Lebanon has lived successive crises that influenced its artistic environment. Yet, some cultural centers and galleries have resumed their activity after a long pause, hosting painting and sculpting exhibitions following a forced recession period. The factors that paralyzed these centers are many, including the pandemic and the Beirut blast, along with many other crises, mainly the worsening economic situation, and the fuel and electricity shortage.

The festivals many Lebanese cities and towns used to host to spice up the summer season, and lure locals, expatriates, and Arab tourists didn't return yet due to the lack of sponsors, and financial funding. The daily and constant devaluation of the local currency has also affected the ticketing prices, considered a major source of profits.

The Beirut Holidays Festival is one of the most awaited events in the capital. It used to be held during the Eid al-Adha holiday every year, gathering many Lebanese, Arab, and Western singers. However, the tough circumstances in the country left the organizers helpless and unable to decide whether to hold it or not.

Amin Abi Yaghi, an organizer at Beirut Holidays said: "We didn't take our final decision yet. In the last few days, we started to consider some measures that could allow us to organize some concerts to bring festivities back to the capital."

"Unfortunately, there are many obstacles, but we believe we can make a small event that hosts local singers like Elissa, Wael Kfoury, and Joseph Atiyeh. Some friends seemed excited about the idea and promised to provide the needed financial support. Of course, bringing foreign artists is not possible given the current circumstances and the currency devaluation, and we still have to consider the cost of equipment, seats, and the lease of the location, among many other factors and logistics that can't be overlooked. Not to mention the daily devaluating Lebanese pound which affects the ticket pricing," he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Speaking about the ticketing prices, Abi Yaghi suggested: "It would start at 300 LBP, and increase for VIP seats. However, all these ideas are still being considered, especially that the country is not yet ready for such festivals. We won't rush to take the final decision, hoping things would become clearer in the coming days."

On the other hand, the Batroun International Festivals decided to make a comeback, and it's currently preparing its event, but without singers this time. The plan is to organize a mini-festival that runs from July 16 to September 5.

Sayed Fayad, organizer of the Batroun Festivals told Asharq Al-Awsat: "All I can say is that we are not going to give up at all costs. The mini-festival will focus on local activities because we aim to keep the city on Lebanon's cultural and entertainment map. Our village, which is currently in its summer peak, will host a colorful event to enlighten the Lebanese days and nights with some hope."

The festival will open with two special evenings dedicated to local drinks and seafood.

"All the products served on those two nights will be made by locals, and from their produces, which are as good and fancy as the exported goods," said Fayad.

"The participants in those evenings will enjoy a long list of local beverages, including Batroun's popular lemonade, in addition to other juices made of red and white grapes. Visitors will also have the chance to try many popular Lebanese dishes, mainly seafood, made in restaurants across Batroun," he added.

On July 23,24,25, the city's old souk is set to host an art exhibition dedicated to Lebanese designers. The festival is planning a gathering of small wooden boats that will take fans on a marine trip from the Batroun port to the popular Bahasa Bay.

"The event will offer a unique sea scenery in which participate 300 boating fans," explained Fayad.

The Batroun Festivals will also include a photography exhibition by Photographer Fares Jammal, from August 15 to September 5. On September 2,3,4,5, the city is set to host the Batroun Mediterranean Film Festival (BMFF) on an open-air stage.

"BMFF will screen short movies selected from the Mediterranean region, in the expatriate square renovated by the Ministry of Culture's antiquities department. The free-entrance event will be open to the public over four days and will include other activities. The site is equipped with special seats bought from a cinema theater in Tripoli that closed its doors in 1965. The audience will enjoy an excellent cinematic experience that will take them back to the big screen world," the festival's organizer said.

For the closing ceremony, the festival will host a concert performed by Khaled Mouzanar and 10 other musicians who came to Lebanon to partake in this special night. Mouzannar and his team will play famous music pieces from popular movies including Caramel, Capernaum, and Villa Paradiso.

Instead of big events, other festivals like Beirut & Beyond, plan to release musical albums signed by singers who were supposed to perform on stage.

The album will be titled "Beirut 20-21," featuring 20 artists, some of them partook in former editions like Lebanese Rapper Jaafar Toufar, Sandy Chamoun, two members of "Tanjaret Daght" band, Khaled Omran, Tarek, and Marie Abu Khaled, and Scarlet Saad.

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Quincy Jones, Music Titan Who Worked with Everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, Dies at 91

US musician and producer Quincy Jones poses after being awarded Grand Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arabic World Institute) in Paris, on October 6, 2014. (AFP)
US musician and producer Quincy Jones poses after being awarded Grand Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arabic World Institute) in Paris, on October 6, 2014. (AFP)
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Quincy Jones, Music Titan Who Worked with Everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, Dies at 91

US musician and producer Quincy Jones poses after being awarded Grand Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arabic World Institute) in Paris, on October 6, 2014. (AFP)
US musician and producer Quincy Jones poses after being awarded Grand Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arabic World Institute) in Paris, on October 6, 2014. (AFP)

Quincy Jones, the multi-talented music titan whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, has died at 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, says he died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones rose from running with gangs on the South Side of Chicago to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives to thrive in Hollywood and leaving behind a vast musical catalog that includes some of the richest moments of American song and rhythm. Over the past half century, it was hard to find a music lover who did not own at least one record with Jones’ name on it or someone in the music, television or movie industries who did not have some connection to him.

Jones kept company with presidents and foreign leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders. He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for “Roots” and “In the Heat of the Night,” organized President Clinton’s first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of “We Are the World.”

In a career that began when records were still played on vinyl at 78 rpm, singling out any work seems unfair. But honors likely go to his productions with Jackson on “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad,” albums universal in their style and appeal. Jones’ versatility and imagination fit perfectly with the bursting talents of Jackson as he sensationally transformed from child star to the “King of Pop.” On such classic tracks as “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” Jones and Jackson drew upon disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B and jazz and African chants. For “Thriller,” some of the most memorable touches originated with Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo on the genre-defying “Beat It” and brought in Vincent Price for a ghoulish voiceover on the title track.

“Thriller” sold more than 20 million copies in 1983 alone, helped Jackson become the first major Black artist to have a video played on MTV and influenced countless performers.

“Michael had the look and the voice, and I had every sound you can think of,” Jones would explain.

The list of his honors and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q”: 28 Grammys (out of 80 nominations), an honorary Academy Award and an Emmy for “Roots.” He also received France’s Legion d’Honneur and the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy. In 2001, Jones was named a Kennedy Center Honoree for his contributions to American culture. He was the subject of a 1990 documentary, “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones,” and his memoir made him a best-selling author.

“Despite all the Grammys and the special awards and testimonials that maturity bestows, it will always be the values you carry within yourself — of work, love, and integrity — that carry the greatest worth, because these are what get you through with your dreams intact, your heart held firm and your spirit ready for another day,” he wrote in his book.

Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones would cite the hymns his mother sang around the house as the first music he could remember. But he looked back sadly on his childhood, telling Oprah Winfrey: “There are two kinds of people: those who have nurturing parents or caretakers, and those who don’t. Nothing’s in between.” Jones’ mother suffered from emotional problems and was eventually institutionalized, a loss that made the world seem “senseless” for Quincy. He spent much of his time in Chicago on the streets, with gangs, stealing and fighting.

Music was his passion, and, almost literally, his salvation. As a boy, he learned that a Chicago neighbor owned a piano and he soon played it constantly himself. His father moved to Washington state when Quincy was 10 and his world changed at a neighborhood recreation center. Jones and some friends had broken into the kitchen and helped themselves to lemon meringue pie when Jones noticed a small room nearby with a stage. On the stage was a piano.

“I went up there, paused, stared, and then tinkled on it for a moment,” he wrote in his autobiography. “That’s where I began to find peace. I was 11. I knew this was it for me. Forever.”

Within a few years he was playing trumpet and befriending a young blind musician named Ray Charles, who became a lifelong friend. He was gifted enough to win a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out when Hampton invited him to tour with his band. Jones went on to work as a freelance composer, conductor, arranger and producer. As a teen, he backed Billie Holiday. By his mid-20s, he was touring with his own band.

“We had the best jazz band on the planet, and yet we were literally starving,” Jones later told Musician magazine. “That’s when I discovered that there was music, and there was the music business. If I were to survive, I would have to learn the difference between the two.”

His survivors include actor Rashida Jones and five other daughters: Jolie Jones Levine, Rachel Jones, Martina Jones, Kidada Jones and Kenya Kinski-Jones; son Quincy Jones III; brother Richard Jones and sisters Theresa Frank and Margie Jay.