Jeddah’s musical ‘bridge to the world’
JEDDAH: The German Consulate is helping to “build bridges” between Germany and Jeddah — through reggae music.
A music night at German Consul General Holger Ziegeler’s residence on Thursday featured German reggae and soul band Mellow Maroc as the headline act.
Band leader “Mellow Mark,” together with bandmates Mohammed Reda Djender and Mohammed Raafat, is on a world tour to showcase his creative twist on reggae music.
The tour has taken the trio to Thailand, Cuba, Russia, Morocco, Costa Rica, Senegal, Egypt, Iraq, South Africa and now Saudi Arabia.
Ziegeler said he first heard Mellow Maroc at the 2016 Janadriyah festival in Riyadh. “I thought, it’s not enough to just see them in Riyadh, I need to bring them to Jeddah as well, because Jeddah is also open to culture historically, and even more so now with the diverse cultural development of Saudi Arabia with Vision 2030,” he said.
Germany was host country for the festival. “We showed that we are a country of people who not only work hard, but also love to play and have fun,” the diplomat said.
Band member Mohammed Reda Djender told Arab News the trio’s music promotes social inclusiveness. “We are Germans, but our drummer is originally from Egypt, I’m originally from Algeria, and our singer Mark is a Muslim. The thing that joins us is the philosophy of being a German, of being an open-minded, free person working for one society.”
Ziegeler said: “My idea of serving here in Saudi Arabia is building bridges so that people can walk in both directions, from Germany to Jeddah and from Jeddah to Germany.”