Ahmed Al-Omran (Saudi Jeans) blogs about attending a jazz concert sponsored by the US Embassy in Riyadh. He notes, in comments, that the group will also be performing in Jeddah.

I’ve arranged many similar concerts in various countries and I think they have their value. In Saudi Arabia, though, a lot of attention has to be paid to the guest list. You don’t want to invite ‘westernized’ Saudis exclusively as that’s not really a great use for limited public diplomacy budgets: it’s not the PD office’s job to provide jazz fixes. But you also can’t invite Saudis (as one of Ahmed’s commenters) who think music is haram as they can bring the evening to a crashing halt. And, to the dismay of many expat Americans, you don’t invite them, either… they’re certainly not what PD dollars are intended for. Some embassies (particularly the French and Italian) go out of their ways to invite their own nationals, but they have a different mandate and are, relatively speaking, far better funded for cultural presentations.

Jazz Night in Riyadh

Like many Saudis, I have never been to a music concert in my life. We do not have concerts in this country because the religious establishment believe that music is haram i.e. not permissible. Some Saudis go to concerts in Dubai, Bahrain or even Canada to see their favorite artists, but the majority cannot afford the cost of traveling to another country just to listen to live music.

Prince Khalid al-Faisal, former governor of Assir and current governor of Jeddah, supported organizing concerts in the past few years in an attempt to boost local tourism. Only men were allowed to attend these concerts and performers were male artists from Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf countries, but this did not stop the conservatives from denouncing the concerts strongly and showing their anger toward Khalid al-Faisal.

… [A] Few days later, I received a phone call asking me if I would be interested in attending an evening of jazz in Riyadh. I was very, very surprised, but unlike many surprises in this city, this was a pleasant one. I mean, it is not everyday that a prestigious jazz band come all the way from New York to play their music in Saudi Arabia. Actually, how often do you hear about live music events in the Riyadh anyway?
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