Quincy and Badr make music to aid Arab world

Who else but the legendary music producer Quincy Jones and UAE-based social entrepreneur Badr Jafar could manage to bring together some of the Arab world’s biggest talents under one roof, in the name of charity.

The duo will jointly produce an Arabic-language single entitled “Tomorrow/Bokra” to raise money and help finance educational arts and culture scholarships and projects for children in the Middle East and North Africa.

Global Gumbo Group, which was established earlier this year by the duo for this very purpose, will record the new Arabic version of the song “Tomorrow (A Better You, A Better Me)”, Jones’ famous anthem of peace, hope and unity, on the sidelines of the Mawazine Festival Rhythms of the World in Rabat, Morocco.

The song aims to recreate the magic from 26 years ago when that the iconic recording “We Are The World”, also produced by Jones, generated 10s of millions of dollars to help ease suffering in Africa. A contemporary version of the song was also released last year to aid the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

“Tomorrow/Bokra” is slated to do just that with the aid to top names such as Amr Diab (Egypt), Majida El Roumi (Lebanon), Kathem Al Saher (Iraq), Mayada El Hannaoui (Syria), Hussein Al Jassmi (UAE), Saber El Rebai (Tunisia), Asma Lmnawar (Morocco) and many others.

Said Jones in a statement: “I have long been a vocal proponent of music and the arts being a great asset in building bridges between people and cultures, and from my many experiences starting in 1953 touring the Middle East and North Africa with Lionel Hampton and again in 1956 as the musical director and trumpeter for Dizzy Gillespie’s first State Department Tour; I have witnessed that ability firsthand.

“I believe that given a choice, people want to live in a world of peace and prosperity and it is my hope that this song will serve as a clarion call for the people of the Middle East and North Africa who share that desire for peace, hope, unity and a better tomorrow to come together to achieve that dream.”
 
The song will be co-produced by Jones and ‘RedOne’ Nadir Khayat, the Grammy award-winning producer and songwriter who has worked with a plethora of talent including Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Akon and Enrique Iglesias to name but few. Siedah Garrett, co-writer of Michael Jackson’s “Man in The Mirror”, is confirmed as vocal producer for the recording.

The iconic El Roumi is writing the Arabic lyrics, while Al Saher is composing the Arabic adaptation, with both determined to express the song’s fundamental message of “a better tomorrow”.

“This song comes at such an important time for the Middle East and brings together the region’s leading talent to produce a song of inspiration and hope for all,” said Jafar.

“There is no better time in the region’s history than now for us to be producing a song of this magnitude, and we have the very best people in the industry behind it,” commented Aziz Daki, Artistic Director of the Festival Mawazine.

The recording sessions will be filmed under the direction of Syrian-American producer Malek Akkad, best known for his popular “Halloween” film series and the acclaimed 2007 film “Made in Brooklyn”, and Jones’ son QD3.

Under the direction of Jones and Jafar, the project’s executive producers will also create a music video for the song, along with a behind-the-scenes documentary that will trace the entire project, incorporating footage from various countries in the region where artists involved in the project will be performing.
 
For those in the music world, Jones is a legend who has worked along his musical career with the likes Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles, along with composing the soundtrack for films such as Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple”.

However, it is his collaboration with the late Michael Jackson that really put Jones into the limelight with the next generation teenyboppers.

The duo first collaborated on “Off The Wall”, which has sold approximately 20 million copies worldwide. This success was followed up with “Thriller” has sold a reputed 110 million copies and has become the highest-selling album of all time.

“Bad” was the last album they worked on before Jones and Jackson split ways.

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