Al 'Azifoon - Musician Bio for Yosifah Rose Craver

Yosifah plays accordion as well as qanun with Al 'Azifoon

Yosifah performs on Avci Kanuns custom made by Ibrahim Avci

Middle Eastern Classics

Yosifah Rose Craver
of
Al 'Azifoon

Al 'Azifoon is an Arabic “Taht” -- a chamber group specializing in classical and traditional Arabic music.
“Al 'Azifoon" in Arabic is a plural noun which literally means “The Instrumentalists.”

Al 'Azifoon is now on Facebook and YouTube!

Yosifah Rose

Nathan Craver

Paul Ohanesian

Collaborations with Helm Music

Guest Percussionists

Yosifah Rose Craver, vocals, qanun, accordion

Yosifah Rose, qanun, percussion, and voice, is a unique and highly talented professional musician and educator. Yosifah's lifelong passion has been music and language studies, and she has a deep love and appreciation of both Arabic and Western music.

Yosifah and her husband Nathan met as musicians, and they have explored many musical styles in bands together since 1986. Through Nathan's love of Americana roots music, folk/rock, and blues their first musical collaborations together resulted in their original folk-rock band Lost Prophets as well as their currently active Americana roots bands Indigo Caravan and Lost Horde. However, Yosifah's true musical love and inspiration has always been much further east...in Arabic music. Therefore, in 2000, she encouraged her multi-instrumentalist husband Nathan to study Arabic music with her and their studies, travels, and further musical collaborations lead to the founding of Al'Azifoon... the realization of Yosifah's lifetime dream to share the beauty and richness of Arabic music with Western audiences as well as giving educational presentations about Arabic music in schools and public libraries. In addition to performing with her bands Indigo Caravan and Al 'Azifoon, Yosifah sings and plays accordion and qanun as an active member of the highly respected of Zawaya's musical ensembles: Aswat Ensemble, Aswat Sacred Ensemble, and the Aswat Women's Ensemble.

Yosifah has long been inspired by the artists of the golden era of Egyptian cinema, especially by artists such as Om Koulthoum,Mohammed Abdul Wahab, Asmahan, Farid El-Atrache, Abdel Halim Hafez, Faiza Ahmed, Fairuz, Sabah, Sabah Fakhri, and others and she enjoys singing and playing their music with Al 'Azifoon. Please visit Yosifah's YouTube Channel and explore her collection of Classical Arabic musical links at www.youtube.com/yosifah for further information about artists that have inspired and influenced Yosifah's musical path.

Yosifah Rose, Al 'Azifoon performing for a Moroccan-themed event 2012, San Francisco, CA

Yosifah has studied Classical Arabic music (history, theory, repertoire, maqams, and rhythms) with Bay Area master musicans such as Maestro Fathi Aljarrah, Elias Lammam, Mary Ellen Donald, and Fadil Shahin. She continues her studies both as a member of the prestigious Aswat Ensemble, and through her own research both through analyzing old audio recordings and through research and study of published dissertations and other scholarly work. Yosifah enjoys researching, studying, and arranging musical material to enhance Al'Azifoon's repertoire. In addition, she holds a Master's Degree and a California teaching credential in Teaching English as a Second Language.

Yosifah Rose playing qanun on a quiet evening at home

Yosifah Rose presented the monthly El Morocco Dancer's Night Shows at El Morocco Restaurant in Pleasant Hill featuring live music by her band Al'Azifoon and guest Raqs Sharqi artists from all over the greater Bay Area from 2003 until 2020. Yosifah was interviewed by Scott Belding of ARTBEAT Video Magazine in late 2010 in a feature about Al 'Azifoon El Morocco Dancers' Nights.
Additionally, her band Al 'Azifoon performs live Arabic music at Middle Eastern-themed festivals, family-friendly parties, corporate parties, and cultural-themed community events.

Yosifah Rose, studying Arabic in Cairo, Egypt, 2006

Yosifah Rose serves as Al 'Azifoon's booking manager, and her goal is to make sure that Al 'Azifoon's performance truly enhances a client's event.

Visit Al 'Azifoon's Booking page for more information about hiring Al 'Azifoon for an event.

Email Yosifah Rose for more information about booking Al 'Azifoon

Above photos by Scott Belding, Carl F. Sermon, Khalilah Samah, and Nathan Craver