Tarek Yamani is a self-taught jazz pianist and award-winning composer critically acclaimed for his work on "Lisan Al Tarab: Jazz Conceptions in Classical Arabic." Winner of the "Thelonious Monk Jazz Composers Competition," he has performed in prestigious venues such as the United Nations assembly hall during the inaugural of the Jazz Day in NYC. In his latest album Peninsular, Tarek composed original work exploring the relationship between jazz and the rhythms of the Arabian Peninsula. Rony Afif is an active drummer and composer in the Middle East region, born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. He showed an early fascination with Arabic rhythms and began teaching himself to play Arabic percussions at the age of nine. His debut album Zourouf was recorded in a New York session and featured original compositions and jazz standards. He holds a BA in Musicology from the Holy Spirit University where he also studied classical and Arabic music extensively.