The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre has begun its outstanding summer season of music from around the world. On June 13th their offering was "Al Andalus to Jerusalem: Levantine Festival, presented by the Levantine Cultural Center.

In earlier times the Levant was comprised of the territory that is now Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, but the Levantine Cultural Center, founded here in Los Angeles in 2001, claims the territory from Morocco in the west to Afghanistan in the east and from southern Greece to Kurdish Iran. Their purpose, they say, is to promote a "pan-cultural conversation beyond borders, passports, and dogmas." And on June 13th they did just that.

Getting the program off to a hilarious start, stand-up comedian Ahmed Ahmed talked about the trials and tribulations of being an Arab-American in these troubling times. He was followed by another excellent comedian, Aaron Kader, who asserted that when he had a son he was going to name him "Al."

Fortunately, these two gave their monologues in English. After that, it was anybody's guess. The music, most of which was not introduced, was soulful, atonal, and sometimes jarring. It came from Persia, Israel, Moorish Spain, and other points around the Arabic world and was played on a gorgeous assortment of ethnic instruments: flamenco guitar, oud (a variation of a lute), ney (a reed pipe), kamanja (a form of fiddle), woodwinds, percussion, castanets, and daff (tambourine).

Israeli composer Yair Dalal played oud and violin, accompanied by Yuval Ron, also on oud, Yegish Manoukian, who played an assortment of hauntingly melancholy flutes and clarinet, and Jamie Papish on the tablah, a vase-shaped drum made of colorfully decorated metal. They were accompanied by Najwa Gibran, whose powerful voice did ample justice to the trills and wails of Arabic music. This group was also joined by Kimberley Michelle, who performed a series of acrobatic strip-tease belly dances.

The second half of the show featured the Al-Andalus group, which was more entertaining, more interesting, and more talented. It consisted of Tarik Banzi on oud, ney, and vocals, Julia Banzi on flamenco guitar, viola, and percussion, Rasgui Boujemaa on kamanja, ney, percussion, and vocals, and Charlie Bisharat, a star all on his own, on violin. A Grammy Award-winning violinist who often sits in with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and accompanies pop, jazz and classical artists, Bisharat was awesome and worth the price of admission all by himself.

Al-Andalus was joined by classical flamenco dancer Ana Montes, who was also spectacular, especially in one number where she wielded a huge Spanish shawl as if it were her dance partner.

Since the songs were sung in a variety of languages that were not identified, I can't say much about them. Suffice it to say they were much appreciated by the audience (the amphitheater was nearly full), who sang along, hummed along, and clapped in accompaniment to the music, which they obviously recognized.

Upcoming cultural events at the Ford include the Jazz Tap Ensemble on July 2, Bluegrass at the Ford on July 3, Adventures in African Heritage on July 10 at 10 a.m. and the world premiere of "I Am Cuba" at 8 p.m., and the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony on July 11th. For more information and reservations, call the box-office at 323-461-3673

This article can be viewed online at:http://www.levantinecenter.org/andalusarticles.html