Tirakat Ali & Charif Megarbane

‘Tirakat’ brings together Jakarta-based trio, Ali, and Lebanese composer and multi-instrumentalist, Charif Megarbane, in a collaboration rooted in long histories of cultural exchange between Indonesia and the Arab world.

Ali are known for blending 1970s Indonesian psychedelic funk with Orkes Melayu, disco grooves and Arab melodic forms, while Charif Megarbane’s extensive catalogue has consistently explored similar cross-regional currents through jazz, library music and Mediterranean-influenced arrangements.

What connects the two is not genre alone, but a shared musical vocabulary shaped by overlapping histories, references and lived cultural continuities.

The relationship between Indonesia and the Arab world stretches back over a thousand years, forged through Indian Ocean trade routes that carried not only goods, but languages, belief systems, instruments and musical ideas. These exchanges were gradually absorbed into local traditions rather than replacing them. In Indonesia, Arabic musical elements entered through devotional practices and ensemble formats such as Gambus, Qasidah and Orkes Melayu, where maqām-derived melodic structures were adapted into local tuning systems and performance styles. Over time, these sounds became embedded within Indonesian popular music, shaping genres such as dangdut and informing a wider sonic landscape that remains audible today.