Global Gumbo Group Chairman Quincy
Jones and President Badr Jafar partner with the industry’s leading Arab
stars to record the single for children in the region, in association
with Mawazine Festival

RABAT, Morocco, May 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Legendary producer Quincy Jones has partnered with United Arab Emirates-based
social entrepreneur Badr Jafar to jointly produce an Arabic charity
single entitled ‘Tomorrow/Bokra’ to raise money and help finance
educational arts and culture scholarships and projects for children in
the Middle East and North Africa. The project is being implemented in association with the Mawazine Festival.

Global
Gumbo Group, which was established earlier this year, will record the
new Arabic version of the song ‘Tomorrow (A Better You, A Better Me)’,
Jones’ famous anthem of peace, hope and unity, in Rabat, Morocco,
concurrently with the 10th edition of the MAWAZINE Festival Rhythms of
the World. It was twenty six years ago that the iconic recording ‘We Are
The World,’ also produced by Jones, generated tens of millions of
dollars to help ease suffering in Africa. A contemporary version of the song was also released last year to aid the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

The ‘Tomorrow/Bokra’ recording will involve some of the biggest names in Arabic music, including: Majida El Roumi (Lebanon), Kathem Al Saher (Iraq), Mayada El Hannaoui (Syria), Hussein Al Jassmi (UAE), Saber El Rebai (Tunisia), Amr Diab (Egypt), Asma Lmnawar (Morocco) and many others. The line-up of artists is an unprecedented summit of Middle Eastern talent on a scale never seen before.

“I
have long been a vocal proponent of music and the arts being a great
asset in building bridges between people and cultures, and from my many
experiences starting in 1953 touring the Middle East and North Africa with Lionel Hampton
and again in 1956 as the musical director and trumpeter for Dizzy
Gillespie’s first State Department Tour, I have witnessed that ability
firsthand. I believe that given a choice, people want to live in a world
of peace and prosperity and it is my hope that this song will serve as a
clarion call for the people of the Middle East and North Africa who share that desire for peace, hope, unity and a better tomorrow to come together to achieve that dream,” said Quincy Jones.

The song will be co-produced by Jones and ‘RedOne’ (a.k.a. Nadir Khayat), a Grammy award-winning producer and songwriter who has worked with a plethora of talent including Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Akon and Enrique Iglesias to name a few. Siedah Garrett, co-writer of Michael Jackson‘s Man in The Mirror, is confirmed as Vocal Producer for the recording.

The Arabic version of the song ‘Tomorrow/Bokra’ is expected to be greeted with fascination in the Middle East. The iconic Majida El Roumi is writing the Arabic lyrics, and the highly respected Kathem Al Saher is composing the Arabic adaptation, with both determined to express the song’s fundamental message of “a better tomorrow.”

“This song comes at a such an important time for the Middle East
and brings together the region’s leading talent to produce a song of
inspiration and hope for all,” said Badr Jafar. “There is no better time
in the region’s history than now for us to be producing a song of this
magnitude, and we have the very best people in the industry behind it.”

“During the 10th Anniversary of the Festival in Rabat,
Maroc Cultures is hosting a historic collaboration of the participating
North African and Middle Eastern artists that will take part in
Mawazine. They will all be recording the song “Bokra,” led by Mr. Quincy Jones.
This will be an unprecedented summit of international talent. The
creation underscores the major role played by Maroc Cultures being the
associate producer of this initiative. It was only natural and the right
choice that Maroc Cultures invited RedOne, as the number one
contemporary global producer today and a native Moroccan, and associated
him in this musical creation,” commented Aziz Daki, Artistic Director of the Festival Mawazine.

The recording sessions will be filmed under the direction of Syrian-American producer Malek Akkad, best known for his popular Halloween film series and the acclaimed 2007 film Made in Brooklyn, and Jones’ son QD3, a highly respected producer in his own right.

Under
the direction of Jones and Jafar, the project’s Executive Producers,
this multi-national team will create a music video for the song and also
begin a behind-the-scenes documentary that will trace the entire
‘Tomorrow/Bokra’ project, incorporating footage from various countries
in the region where artists involved in the project will be performing.

The song ‘Tomorrow/Bokra’ aims to serve as a beacon of solidarity and hope for the region at a crucial time.

Contact for more information:
Zeina Hallassou +971 (0) 55 980 6698 or [email protected]

Contact for Quincy Jones:
Arnold Robinson +1 310 854 8193 or [email protected]

Global Gumbo Group

Quincy Jones, the multi-Grammy winning producer and multi-media entrepreneur, and Badr Jafar, the United Arab Emirates
social entrepreneur, entered into a joint venture, The Global Gumbo
Group, earlier this year to develop multi-media opportunities across all
entertainment platforms including music, film, television, publishing
and digital applications in the Middle East and North Africa.  Jones serves as Chairman of the Board of the new venture and Jafar as its President.

The company will initially be focusing on producing live entertainment opportunities in the Middle East for Western artists in collaboration with renowned Middle East
and North African artists. The Global Gumbo Group will also look to
nurture new Middle Eastern and North African talent, and acquire content
from the region to introduce to the West.

Maroc Cultures Association

Maroc Cultures Association is a non-profit based organisation in Morocco
whose mission is to promote world culture and art. Maroc Cultures is
the organizer of the annual Mawazine Festival, a nine-day extravaganza
and one of the most prestigious music festivals in the Arab world. The
2011 edition will be the Festival’s 10th anniversary.

Tomorrow

“Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me)” was originally recorded by Tevin Campbell for Jones’ Grammy Award-winning 1989 Record of the Year Back on the Block and written by Siedah Garret. Jones chose the song for this project because its message suits this special moment in the history of the Middle East and North Africa.

Global Gumbo Group