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here, have some more now you are caught up even including things from NY this week !! ooookay bye

🌼 SAHRIT SAFFRON 🌼 We still feel so glowy from packing the @co1orclub ballroom for @tayfensemble SAHRIT SAFFRON! The setlist, with arrangements by TAYF founder & director @cmikhail , began with sorrow, righteous indignation, and deep longing for homeland and those that have left us or we have left behind. Pushing forward, it became bittersweet reunions, confusion at how we ended up here, and an affirmation that love surmounts geographical distance. Final joyous songs propeled us into the second half of the night, a dance party with DJ @allisonparssi of SHOKOUFEH fame on decks and a bazaar with local artists and artisans. Visit our YouTube to immerse yourself in our latest shows centering diasporic Chicago artists! _______________________________________ 📸: @heavybutlite 📸: Photobooth by @glittergutsy 🎵: @cmikhail_ @feel_the_beatz @chicagoraqs @recklessdarlingmusic @shamabyad @shaynamei @kayapandantoast 💃: @queenyasmeen.dance @chicagoraqs 💿: @allisonparssi 🛠🎥 Production: @mmaureeen @i.b.r._v1 @c.harliie @sotocuchis @jontan.music 🎤 MC/Producer: @yasmin.zacaria 🎨 Vendors: @jasjyotjasjyot @marenrosenberg @jerusalemshops @aafs_il @aminassweets @biya.biya.productions @cafe.niyyah

i never posted my adventures and music and friends and such from 2025 so here’s that. more to come catching up to where we are now soon!! loose bullet points: - baby’s first NY show with @jamilaandtheotherheroes - duo with @farnaz.khoshsirat - music video and live sesh with @annfrancesmusic - last official @snake.pond show - moving out of hyde park - reno and lake tahoe with beloved @plnvk_ - ARABIC MUSIC RETREAT I NEVER POSTED??? - maqam workshops with @recklessdarlingmusic - album release show with @immigrantorchestra - becoming @wanees_zarour - seeing family for the first time in YEARS @augarete @ashtarmikhail

TAYF spring 🖤

🏵 TONIGHT 🏵 TAYF takes the @co1orclub ballroom on April 23rd for SAHRIT SAFFRON, an evening of live music and bellydance! 🌼 Evoking the warmth and light of saffron, this evening blooms from live music by headlining band TAYF into an open dance party hafla with @allisonparssi and bazaar. Joined by bellydancers @chicagoraqs and @the_queen_yasmeen SAHRIT SAFRRON is an expansive cultural night steeped in SWANA roots and rhythms. The show features TAYF’s classic repertoire of queer maqam and fresh pieces. In the spirit of an evening party, their live performance weaves TAYF favorites and new songs, including multiple from late, great composer Ziad Rahbani, ever influential in melding tradition with innovation. While rooted in hits from the 70s and 80s, TAYF sprinkles folkloric mainstays into a curated night of live music and dance for the whole family. 🌼 Thursday, April 23 📍 Color Club 4146 N Elston Ave. 6pm doors 7pm live music 9pm dance party & bazaar 🌼 ABOUT TAYF The Arabic word TAYF evades a singular definition: spectrum, queer, light, ephemeral. The ensemble leans into every interpretation, merging the traditions of maqam with commitments to an expansive future. Founded in May 2024 by musician and audio engineer C Mikhail, TAYF boasts nostalgic and fresh sound from across the SWANA region. 🌼 🎵 @cmikhail @feel_the_beatz @recklessdarlingmusic @shamabyad @shaynamei 🛠 @yasmin.zacaria 📸 @heavybutlite This show is one of Color Club's contributions to @civlchi FEST — a citywide celebration of Chicago's independent venues, artists, and neighborhoods.

TAYF ON TV 📺 Did you catch @tayfensemble on @cbschicago ? TAYF Founder @cmikhail_ , cellist @feel_the_beatz , and multi-instrumentalist @recklessdarlingmusic represented the band with love and big energy! We don't take the work of cultural preservation lightly, and we know what a big deal it is to take up space on the big screen on the streets of Chicago. To speak on the beauty of our culture and our people is necessary in the face of those who seek to silence us. We are carrying on the resilience of our generations before us and honoring legacies. Join us TOMORROW Thursday, April 23rd @co1orclub for SAHRIT SAFFRON, an evening of live music and bellydance that blooms into a night market and dance party. 📸 @heavybutlite 🎥 @i.b.r._v1

We can’t ignore it is a really horrendous time in the world, especially for the communities a lot of us are a part of as queers, people of color, and artists. But we can find some hope in committing to building spaces where we can exist and refuse to be erased. It feels like a hard time to celebrate anything, but honoring our culture is urgent, beautiful work. BIYA BIYA was founded last April with the desire to center cultural preservation and community in/beyond SWANA diasporas. Join us this Thursday, April 23rd with @tayfensemble at the @co1orclub for an evening that centers both grief and joy across our diasporas.

✨️ SAHRIT SAFFRON ✨️ TAYF takes the @co1orclub ballroom on April 23rd for SAHRIT SAFFRON, an evening of live music and bellydance! 🌼 Evoking the warmth and light of saffron, this evening blooms from live music by headlining band TAYF into an open dance party hafla and bazaar. Joined by bellydancers @chicagoraqs and @the_queen_yasmeen SAHRIT SAFRRON is an expansive cultural night steeped in SWANA roots and rhythms. The show features TAYF’s classic repertoire of queer maqam and fresh pieces. In the spirit of an evening party, their live performance weaves TAYF favorites and new songs, including multiple from late, great composer Ziad Rahbani, ever influential in melding tradition with innovation. While rooted in hits from the 70s and 80s, TAYF sprinkles folkloric mainstays into a curated night of live music and dance for the whole family. 🌼 Thursday, April 23 📍 Color Club 4146 N Elston Ave. 6pm doors 7pm live music 9pm dance party & bazaar 🌼 ABOUT TAYF The Arabic word TAYF evades a singular definition: spectrum, queer, light, ephemeral. The ensemble leans into every interpretation, merging the traditions of maqam with commitments to an expansive future. Founded in May 2024 by musician and audio engineer C Mikhail, TAYF boasts nostalgic and fresh sound from across the SWANA region. 🌼 🎵 @cmikhail @feel_the_beatz @recklessdarlingmusic @shamabyad @shaynamei 🛠 @yasmin.zacaria 📸 @heavybutlite This show is one of Color Club's contributions to @civlchi FEST — a citywide celebration of Chicago's independent venues, artists, and neighborhoods.

✨️ SAHRIT SAFFRON ✨️ TAYF takes the @co1orclub ballroom on April 23rd for SAHRIT SAFFRON, an evening of live music and bellydance! 🌼 Evoking the warmth and light of saffron, this evening blooms from live music by headlining band TAYF into an open dance party hafla and bazaar. Joined by bellydancers @chicagoraqs and @the_queen_yasmeen SAHRIT SAFRRON is an expansive cultural night steeped in SWANA roots and rhythms. The show features TAYF’s classic repertoire of queer maqam and fresh pieces. In the spirit of an evening party, their live performance weaves TAYF favorites and new songs, including multiple from late, great composer Ziad Rahbani, ever influential in melding tradition with innovation. While rooted in hits from the 70s and 80s, TAYF sprinkles folkloric mainstays into a curated night of live music and dance for the whole family. 🌼 Thursday, April 23 📍 Color Club 4146 N Elston Ave. 6pm doors 7pm live music 9pm dance party & bazaar 🌼 ABOUT TAYF The Arabic word TAYF evades a singular definition: spectrum, queer, light, ephemeral. The ensemble leans into every interpretation, merging the traditions of maqam with commitments to an expansive future. Founded in May 2024 by musician and audio engineer C Mikhail, TAYF boasts nostalgic and fresh sound from across the SWANA region. 🌼 🎵 @cmikhail @feel_the_beatz @recklessdarlingmusic @shamabyad @shaynamei 🛠 @yasmin.zacaria 📸 @heavybutlite This show is one of Color Club's contributions to @civlchi FEST — a citywide celebration of Chicago's independent venues, artists, and neighborhoods.

something new is blooming! 🏵🌻🌼 enjoy this memory from our fall show TAYF: FROM ASH TO BLOOM at the Chop Shop, presented by @biya.biya.productions tickets drop tomorrow for our next show 🪩 stay tuned!

Double news day: 1️⃣ ”The Only Man You Need” is out everywhere. Please enjoy these clips from our *very* professional rehearsal. 2️⃣ The Yellow House album release show: February 6 @hideoutchicago with @talhawaqarr and @no_lonesome . We’ll be presenting new songs and Brazilian funk classics, along with the most ambitious band I’ve put together yet. I’m very fortunate to work with musicians – and people – of this caliber. It’s a thrill arranging these tunes for three vocalists, and I can’t wait to share them with you. Tickets at the link in my bio.

✨️ TAYF ✨️ Come celebrate the longest night of the year at YALDA NIGHT LIFE, a winter solstice celebration ft. live music, dance, and djs. @tayfensemble is a queer-fronted maqam ensemble that steeps their set in music focusing on the spirit of tarab—musical ecstasy. Their contemporary arrangements of music in the maqam tradition are lovingly swirled with jazz and pop stylings. Meet us at the @californiaclipper to steep in some SWANA sound and movement as we gather to keep warm and cherish the triumph of light over darkness. ✨️ ABOUT THE ARTISTS ✨️ @cmikhail_ (they/them) is an Assyrian-German-American musician and audio engineer based in Chicago. With a speciality in the Arab music tradition of maqam, they have become a coveted bassist in ensembles across the city like the Chicago Immigrant Orchestra, Sumoud Collective, and the Middle East Music Ensemble of UChicago. Dr. Aliah Ajamoughli (@feel_the_beatz ), PhD is a Syrian American ethnomusicologist, cellist and educator. Her musical style intertwines seemingly two opposing worlds: the folk tunes of her fatherland Syria with medleys of her Alabama upbringing. This blending of bluegrass and maqam sounds the necessity of revolution, joy, and hope across global systems of oppression. Kai Samih Movagh (@kai__.the.__guy ) is a musician and visual artist from the Chicago area whose primary instrument is drums and percussion. Kai has experience playing in a diverse area of musical acts of different genres including jazz, rock, r&b, metal, and folk music from the SWANA region. @pooyanraz is a practicing physician whose artistic life is centered on singing. As an amateur tenor, he has performed with the Ordibehesht Choir and the Tehran Symphony Orchestra Choir in Iran. He now sings with the University of Chicago Middle Eastern Music Ensemble Choir, where he blends his passion for vocal performance with a desire to preserve and share Middle Eastern musical traditions. ✨️ Saturday, December 20th ✨️ Performances 8pm-LATE ✨️ Cover $5 - $10 cash at the door #Yalda #Chicago #ChicagoMusic #ChicagoArts #SWANA