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Natives of the old city of Jerusalem, Farid (born in 1975) and Rami (born in 1976) come from a special Palestinian family: for generations, their house was a meeting point for poets and musicians who have kept alive, almost forgotten art forms like "zajal", "ghazal", "hija" and "taksim" (improvisation on traditional and often mysterious old scales known as makama). Both brothers are multifaceted musicians with demonstrated virtuosity in playing all Arabic musical instruments ranging from melodic instruments like oud, bouzok, kanoun, kamanjeh and nay to rhythmic instruments like tabla, katem and riq.
Well known in their country, the Chehade Brothers have participated in all major Palestinian concerts and in many prestigious international festivals representing Palestine around the world. However, both were dreaming of a career well beyond the patriotic and revolutionary scene or the circuit of cultural festivals where they had to play folkloric Palestinian songs; they wanted to make their mark on "popular" music in its broadest sense. So, in the late 1990s, the Chehades headed to Beirut where they joined the newly formed Oriental Roots Orchestra, an oriental style "big band" formed by Michel Elefteriades with the goal of bringing together the best musicians of the Arab world.
This collaboration has also yielded the Chehade brothers' first album. Composed by the two brothers and arranged by Elefteriades, the album captures the time honored Tarab mood. Elia Azar also contributed to the album with a set of poetic lyrics that only the talent of the brothers, coupled with Elefteriades' fusion mastery, can turn into such subtle music, best known in the eastern notion as "inaccessible simplicity". Their first album “A Bridge Over the Mediterranean” was released by Warner Music, and nominated for two BBC music awards 2005: the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards and the BBC Radio 3 Audience Awards.
The last three years have been quite resounding for the Chehade Brothers and their fans as they have been restlessly touring Europe and the Middle East, from Spain to Turkey and from Cyprus to Bahrain, with outstanding acclamations equaled only by the dazzling credit they receive from the media.
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