Pitchfork

Many moons ago, we posted a track from Lebanese oud player Marcel Khalifé. Khalifé seems like a good dude: in addition to really wailin' on the oud, he's a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization "Artist for Peace". Not even Bono can say the same.

Khalifé has a sizable number of North American tour dates ahead of him over the next few months at places like the Kennedy Center and Boston's Berklee College of Music's Performance Hall. In other words, Khalifé ain't no dimestore oud player, and venues who regularly host Lebanese classical music ought to be honored by his interest.

That's not the case for San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Theatre at the Salvation Army's Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, who have forced Khalifé to look elsewhere for a place to play in the area. It's not so much that the Kroc Theatre folks don't like the cut of Khalifé's jib: rather, they feel the show would be "divisive" and "unbalanced" without an Israeli performer taking the stage the same night, according to a press release issued by Khalifé's camp.

It's tough to tell if this is political correctness run amok (soon to come at the Kroc: all Swiss music, all the time!) or-- Khalifé being Arab and this being a Christian-run venue in George Bush's America-- something potentially more sinister. A quick glance at the Kroc Center's schedule of events finds several Christmas events on the docket with nary a Jewish/Islamic/Buddhist/snakehandling/what-have-you alternative offered. Long live hypocrisy.

Kudos to the Birch North Park Theater for stepping in and giving Khalifé a gig in San Diego. The full tour roster is available after the jump.

Marcel Khalifé:

09-28 Montreal, Quebec - The Metropolis
09-30 Toronto, Ontario - Toronto Centre for the Arts
10-02 Ottawa, Ontario - Centrepoint Theatre
10-04 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Hall
10-05 Edmonton, Alberta - Citadel
10-06 Vancouver, British Columbia - Centennial Theatre
10-07 Seattle, WA - Town Hall
10-10 San Francisco, CA - Herbst Theatre
10-13 Los Angeles, CA - Wilshire Ebell Theatre
10-14 San Diego, CA - Birch North Park Theater
10-18 Denver, CO - The Oriental Theater
10-19 Minneapolis, MN - The Cedar Cultural Center
10-20 Austin, TX - Hogg Memorial Auditorium
10-26 Houston, TX - Stafford Centre
10-28 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
10-30 Albuquerque, NM - KiMo Theater
11-01 Washington, DC - John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
11-02 Washington, DC - John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
11-04 Atlanta, GA - Ferst Center for the Arts
11-09 Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater
11-10 Dearborn, MI - Ford Community & Performing Arts Center
11-11 Westlake, OH - Westlake City Schools Performing Arts Center
11-16 Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Hall
11-18 New York, NY - NYU Skirball Center