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| Musicians in a Refugee Camp in France Record ‘The Calais Sessions’ | Musicians in a Refugee Camp in France Record ‘The Calais Sessions’ |
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| PARIS — “I am happy, like a myna/Life in a caravan, thinking about my friends/Let’s go to the garden,” go the upbeat lyrics from “Khandahar,” a poem first written in English and then translated to Farsi by two Afghan sisters, ages 9 and 12, who were living in a trailer in the sprawling migrant and refugee camp in Calais, France, that is known as the Jungle. | PARIS — “I am happy, like a myna/Life in a caravan, thinking about my friends/Let’s go to the garden,” go the upbeat lyrics from “Khandahar,” a poem first written in English and then translated to Farsi by two Afghan sisters, ages 9 and 12, who were living in a trailer in the sprawling migrant and refugee camp in Calais, France, that is known as the Jungle. |
| “Khandahar” is one of 13 tracks on “The Calais Sessions,” a benefit album released on July 29 that was recorded in the camp as a collaboration involving about 20 refugees and professional musicians. The music ranges from Middle Eastern-inflected pop to Iraqi rap to tunes from the Balkans and Spain. Some pieces are love songs. One mourns the death of a Syrian brother. Others are joyful instrumentals set against a backbeat of traditional percussion. | “Khandahar” is one of 13 tracks on “The Calais Sessions,” a benefit album released on July 29 that was recorded in the camp as a collaboration involving about 20 refugees and professional musicians. The music ranges from Middle Eastern-inflected pop to Iraqi rap to tunes from the Balkans and Spain. Some pieces are love songs. One mourns the death of a Syrian brother. Others are joyful instrumentals set against a backbeat of traditional percussion. |
| Although mostly amateurs, the musicians who played on the album took the job seriously. “It is hard work, because you want to make something professional,” Kasper, a 24-year-old Iraqi refugee who sang on “University Story,” a rap song about love, said in a telephone interview from the camp. | Although mostly amateurs, the musicians who played on the album took the job seriously. “It is hard work, because you want to make something professional,” Kasper, a 24-year-old Iraqi refugee who sang on “University Story,” a rap song about love, said in a telephone interview from the camp. |
| Kasper, who like many of the musicians did not want his last name used, was a jewelry maker in Baghdad and an amateur rapper before he embarked on the grueling route to Europe last year. After a journey that lasted three weeks, he arrived in Calais in October. | Kasper, who like many of the musicians did not want his last name used, was a jewelry maker in Baghdad and an amateur rapper before he embarked on the grueling route to Europe last year. After a journey that lasted three weeks, he arrived in Calais in October. |
| Recording the album, he said, had brought a glimmer of hope into his life. “I hope it changes something,” he said. “I can’t do anything for me here in the Jungle.” | Recording the album, he said, had brought a glimmer of hope into his life. “I hope it changes something,” he said. “I can’t do anything for me here in the Jungle.” |
| The camp has been in place for at least 10 years as a terminus for asylum seekers trying to enter Britain by any means possible, but its numbers swelled last year with the exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan through Europe. After periodic crackdowns by the authorities, an estimated 4,500 people are living there now. | The camp has been in place for at least 10 years as a terminus for asylum seekers trying to enter Britain by any means possible, but its numbers swelled last year with the exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan through Europe. After periodic crackdowns by the authorities, an estimated 4,500 people are living there now. |
| In part because of its proximity to London and Paris, charities, celebrities and artists have found their way to the camp, offering cultural activities like concerts, theaters built from scratch and even arts schools. The driving force behind the album was Vanessa Lucas-Smith, a cellist in the Allegri Quartet in London, who said in a phone interview that the project sought to show a different side of those living in the Jungle and to empower them by allowing their talents to be heard. | In part because of its proximity to London and Paris, charities, celebrities and artists have found their way to the camp, offering cultural activities like concerts, theaters built from scratch and even arts schools. The driving force behind the album was Vanessa Lucas-Smith, a cellist in the Allegri Quartet in London, who said in a phone interview that the project sought to show a different side of those living in the Jungle and to empower them by allowing their talents to be heard. |
| Ms. Lucas-Smith and other musicians visited the camp in September, bringing with them instruments that included the vaguely guitar-like oud, a flute called a ney, and a daf, a Kurdish drum that would allow refugees to rediscover familiar sounds. | Ms. Lucas-Smith and other musicians visited the camp in September, bringing with them instruments that included the vaguely guitar-like oud, a flute called a ney, and a daf, a Kurdish drum that would allow refugees to rediscover familiar sounds. |
| Percussion turned out to be the calling card, she said, and soon the project’s initiators found themselves jamming with refugees and running music workshops. “When you take the instruments to people, it sounds as if it’s bread or water or coal, something they really, really need,” Ms. Lucas-Smith said. | Percussion turned out to be the calling card, she said, and soon the project’s initiators found themselves jamming with refugees and running music workshops. “When you take the instruments to people, it sounds as if it’s bread or water or coal, something they really, really need,” Ms. Lucas-Smith said. |
| The idea of recording songs created by refugees and professional musicians coalesced into an idea for an album this spring. Most of “The Calais Sessions” was recorded in a generator-powered studio near the Jungle of Books, a makeshift library. | The idea of recording songs created by refugees and professional musicians coalesced into an idea for an album this spring. Most of “The Calais Sessions” was recorded in a generator-powered studio near the Jungle of Books, a makeshift library. |
| It took a team of around 200 people, including volunteers from Britain and Spain as well as from the camp, to record the album. It is available on Bandcamp for 10 pounds, or about $13, for a digital download and £15 for a CD. As of Aug. 2, about £4,000 had been raised to benefit refugees and Citizen UK, a British charity, Ms. Lucas-Smith said. | It took a team of around 200 people, including volunteers from Britain and Spain as well as from the camp, to record the album. It is available on Bandcamp for 10 pounds, or about $13, for a digital download and £15 for a CD. As of Aug. 2, about £4,000 had been raised to benefit refugees and Citizen UK, a British charity, Ms. Lucas-Smith said. |
| While none of the refugees who played on the album were professional musicians, some had received formal training, she said, citing Mohealdeen, a singer from Syria, and Ismail, an Afghani who said he was persecuted by the Taliban for playing the dambora, a long-necked stringed instrument. | While none of the refugees who played on the album were professional musicians, some had received formal training, she said, citing Mohealdeen, a singer from Syria, and Ismail, an Afghani who said he was persecuted by the Taliban for playing the dambora, a long-necked stringed instrument. |
| “The Taliban heard me playing one day in my house,” Ismail wrote on the “Calais Sessions” website. “They put my right arm into boiling water saying it is because that is the arm that I make music with.” On the album, he plays a cello-like instrument made from scraps found around the camp. | |
| Most of the recording took place in February, around the time the French authorities were poised to dismantle part of the camp, a decision that affected some musicians featured on the album. | Most of the recording took place in February, around the time the French authorities were poised to dismantle part of the camp, a decision that affected some musicians featured on the album. |
| “Yezus,” a spiritual, was recorded with a choir of Eritrean women whom Ms. Lucas-Smith and her colleagues met at a makeshift chapel in the camp. While reticent at first, the choir unexpectedly showed up at the studio a few hours later. | “Yezus,” a spiritual, was recorded with a choir of Eritrean women whom Ms. Lucas-Smith and her colleagues met at a makeshift chapel in the camp. While reticent at first, the choir unexpectedly showed up at the studio a few hours later. |
| “When can we do the next one?” the women asked after the recording. Their church was bulldozed the next morning. | “When can we do the next one?” the women asked after the recording. Their church was bulldozed the next morning. |