Le Trio Joubran On Mountain Stage

Composed of brothers Samir, Wissan and Adnan Joubran, Le Trio Joubran hails from Palestine. All play various versions of the oud, a string instrument and cousin to the more commonly known lute.

The brothers' father, Hatem Joubran, is a renowned instrument builder in their homeland. Wissan continued in his family's long-standing tradition and is now himself a master luthier, building all of the band's instruments. Samir Joubran, the eldest, began as a solo oud artist; his two younger brothers eventually took up the family instrument and joined him to form the first trio of its kind.

With startling technique and improvisational flair — the final song here is an improvisation the group played as an encore — Le Trio Joubran performs original compositions inspired by traditional Arabic music.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.