Press Quotes
“I've seen the same thing amongst Jewish audiences listening to, for example, Yehudi Menuhin or Itzhak Perlman - something for want of a better word that I'd describe as a consciousness of a shared soul.
I really don't think I'm overstating this. I thought, there she is, Reem Kelani, pouring every milligram of her being into this performance, her audience rapt, transported before her, and there's this precious, non-violent force transmuting a mouthful of air into articulate energy, an energy that evokes sympathetic vibrations through whole communities, giving hope and strength, lifting human spirits from out of their dark times.”London, 12 October 2009
Brian Robinson, Musicweaver
“There she was, the singer Reem Kelani coming from the UK to make wonders with her voice, her songs, her choreography, her humour and her ability to enthrall.”
al-Wehda, Syria, 20 July 2009
Samah Muhammad al-'Ali
The No-Nonsense Guide to World Music, New Internationalist, April 2009
Louise Gray
“Reem Kelani doesn't just sing; she lives the song.”
Manresa, Barcelona, 6 November 2008
Josep Frechina
“Palestinian singer Reem Kelani was a new name in my world, but the woman was so endearing I'll never forget her.”
Seattle, 15 May 2008
Gary Bannister, Artistic director, Dimitriou's Jazz Alley
“As ever, the trick is to find the off-kilter acts who might one day reappear as headliners. The Radio 3 stage, in the Arboretum area, was the place and, if there's any justice in the world, Palestinian singer Reem Kelani should be back again soon (WOMAD 2007)”
The Bristol Evening Post, July 2007
Mel Greenwood
“One pleasant surprise was the fiery, flaxen-haired Palestinian singer Reem Kelani who, with her mix of flamenco singing, Arabic dance music, poems of Palestinian suffering and songs by forgotten Egyptian legends like Sayyid Darwish, was one of the great revelations of WOMAD”
Oor magazine, Holland, August 2007
Pieter Franssen
“What I found here was more than just mere singing. I saw the amazing presence of this singer, her towering stance and appearance on stage, her interaction with the band and with the audience”
as-Safir, Lebanon 3 February 2007
Rashid Issa
“But for our best of 2006, no self-respecting household should be without Reem Kelani's Sprinting Gazelle. A collection of Palestinian songs, Kelani's singing and arrangements emphasize peace and positivity for a troubled location where both qualities are often markedly lacking.”
New Internationalist, February 2007
Louise Gray
“When she told me earlier that she did not see any difference between jazz and Arabic music, it sounded a stretch; here, for a moment, the two spin together so fast they sound like one”
The Financial Times, 16 January 2007
David Honigmann
“So often, fine international musicians resident in Britain are overshadowed by celebrity artists flying in from around the world. But Reem Kelani, the London-based Palestinian singer, is a voice to be reckoned with and has a feisty rapport with her audience”
The Evening Standard, 11 January 2007
Simon Broughton
“The performance by Reem Kelani at Whitby's own Musicport in 2006 is one that will be talked about and remembered for a good long while. It had everything: drama, emotion, education, humour, power, musicianship, surprises, and above all a level of musical and personal integrity that shone throughout the whole set.”
Folkdevils, December 2006
Dave Longmate
“Reem Kelani is an artist who puts her soul, her emotions and her whole being into her music … Even in her happiest songs, her music is reminiscent of the lamentations of Palestinian women”
Aksiyon, Turkey, 20 June 2005
Tuba Özden
Translated from Turkish
“Her performance at Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall entranced her audience. Kelani entertained her audience with jokes in Turkish, Arabic and English”
MHA Mesopotamian News Agency
Turkey, June 2005
Translated from Turkish
"She has one of the most startling ranges and phrasing ability coiled up in her throat... Reem treats music as both an historical and sociological journey."
Slough & Windsor Express (WOMAD review), 29 July 2004
Geoff Cowart
"The most compelling voice throughout the series was, of course, that of Scheherazade herself, etherially present in spellbinding extracts beautifully read by Reem Kelani."
The Times Literary Supplement, June 4 2004
Jane Jakeman
(from a review of A Thousand And One, BBC Radio 4)
"The Palestinian singer Reem Yousef Kelani, famous for her interpretation of the Arab form "maqamaat", was born in Manchester, educated in Kuwait and now lives in London. Her work as an ethnographer, collecting old Palestinian songs from, and interviewing older refugees in Lebanon, marks her out as a sophisticated exemplar of a diasporic musical tradition being re-founded or conserved after the trauma of the Palestinian dispersal."
Media, Industry & Society, 2003
John Shepherd
See online preview of the book, esp. page 290
"Rarely has the entire tragedy of a people been condensed into artful melodrama by such a powerful and stirring voice. Her range extends from the deepest lows to the brightest highs, in between which she launches herself unselfconsciously into unending notes, enriching melodies with slides and glissandos."
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, May 2003
Norbert Krampf
Translated from German
"She doesn’t sing the music, but lives it with her whole body and soul. The sheer emotional power of it hits you right in the solar plexus, but it’s totally controlled – she can switch instantly from anger to laughter, from grief to celebration."
Oxford Times, May 2003
Roger van Schaick
"The most incredible vocalist this reviewer has ever come across. The small Kelani overwhelmed the whole concert hall with her powerful voice and her tremendous charisma."
Dilettant.no, Norway, 13 April 2003
Øyvind Strømmen
Translated from Norwegian
"…Reem Kelani's voice will make the hairs on your neck stand up."
Jazz UK, March/ April 2003
Pete Martin
"…extraordinary Palestinian singer ….Kelani's searing sustained sound, spiralling off into a chilling high warble, opens the set against deep bowed double-bass drones…"
The Guardian , 28 February 2003
John Fordham
"Her voice is holy, strong and seductive, like a call to prayer."
Evening Standard, 27 February 2003
Mark Espiner
"Reem Kelani is a national treasure of talent, art and a deep sense of belonging."
Al-Quds (London) & Al-Ayyaam (Ramallah),26 February 2003
Rashad Abou-Shawar
Translated from Arabic
"An extraordinary musical map of Palestine emerges from her work, more vibrant than any historical document."
The Guardian, 25 February 2003
Jo Glanville
"Kelani's voice is a technical marvel, capable of transforming deeply felt emotion into a range of pulverising hollers and keening wails."
The Guardian, 14 February 2003
James Griffiths
"Palestinian singer Reem Kelani (the presenter of Radio 4's Distant Chords) is an able conduit for a vocal tradition that's one of the globe's most expressive. Her rising and falling declamations are imbued with a natural theatricality that invariably provokes a spine-tingling reaction."
The Birmingham Post, 27 January 2003
Marin Longley
"Her beautiful voice carries the characteristics of a people and the identity of a nation. It has vitality, culture and hope."
Al-Ahram, Egypt, August 2002
Yosry Hussein
Translated from Arabic
"Reem's singing at the candle-lit vigil showed the importance of music as a means of directly making contact between cultures and in expressing the Palestinians' identity and history."
Saudi Gazette, 27 May 2002
Susannah Tarbush
"We did not have to stretch our imaginations too far to join Kelani in the refugee camps of South Lebanon. She performed a scintillating set of songs of plaintive mourning and tunes of defiant resistance. Singing laments for the 'big mamas', ... her emotive, unaccompanied voice sent tingles down the spine."
Business A.M., Scotland, 13 June 2001
Mark Brown
"Reem Kelani is Palestininian but her vocal style seems to effortlessly transcend any boundaries. There's the heavenly swoopes and soars of the Pakistani Sufi singer, the mournful roar of a Yiddish crooner, the bluesy wail of a Jewish cantor, those melismatic glides of the Arabic griot - it's all there in every song she sings."
Time Out, London, March/April 2001
John Lewis
"One of the finest and most popular singers in the Palestinian world."
Athens News, Athens, Greece, 15 February 2000
"She has great vitality, sharp intelligence and definite talent."
Al-Quds, London, 18 May 1999
Husam Ed-Dine Muhammad
Translated from Arabic
"Her audience at Places des Arts witnessed the birth of a great Arab artist who will play a pivotal role in the future."
Al-Mir'ah, Montreal, Canada, 22 March 1994
Sa'adi Al-Maleh
Translated from Arabic
"On tour, Kelani expresses her nostalgia through the choice of her material and her music gestures of blues and jazz."
The Gazette, Montreal, Canada, 19 March 1994
Daniel Feist
"She sat at the microphone and started to speak. Immediately the whole atmosphere was transformed. She spoke with a gleeful energy which at once infected everyone in the room... When she started to sing, she was smiling, almost laughing with defiance."
The Socialist Worker, UK, 15 May 1993
Paul Foot
"With her angelic voice and emotional charge, Reem Kelani proves that art is indeed a weapon."
Al-Hadaf, Kuwait, 2 June 1989
Translated from Arabic
"A paragon of performance artistry and passion."
As-Siyasah, Kuwait, 1 June 1989
Mufidah Hilmi
Translated from Arabic
"She manages to switch effortlessly from the cabaret sophistication of Fred Astaire's 'Top Hat' to a haunting Arabic song."
Arab Times, Kuwait, 1 June 1988
Keith Wells
"An accomplished singer and dancer."
Kuwait Times, 30 May 1988
Baby Joseph
"Reem Kelani: a woman with a cause......If past shows are any indication, this one should be a winner with toe-tapping music and oriental dancing."
Kuwait Times, 22 May 1988
Fatima Ali
"Reem Kelani has a superb voice, powerful, beautifully controlled and packed with emotion."
Arab Times, Kuwait, 17 October 1987
Keith Wells