Yemen, situated on the southwest corner of the Saudi Arabian penisula, sits a stone's throw from the African coast of Eritrea and Somalia, a long way from European lifestyles. Yemen is one of the Arab world's poorest countries and the homeland of Ashwaq Abdulla Kulaib, who has made the Czech Republic her home since 1989. Kulaib, who speaks fluent Czech and holds a master's degree in political science, today struggles with being a single mother and fronts a dynamic Prague-based rock group known as Al-Yaman.

Recognizing Kulaib at Chez Marcel, where we had agreed to meet for an interview, was easy. Her angular features are framed by dark, curly hair, and her black eyes express the same Arabic sensual intelligence heard in her singing. Her voice, both in song and in discussion, carries a strength and clarity that make her admittedly less-than-perfect English ring as clear as a bell.

When Kulaib says, for instance, "I know what it means to really have nothing," the word "nothing" sinks in with meanings hard to convey on paper.

"When I came to Prague it was a complete shock, it seemed like a very big city," Kulaib says. Things have changed in the years since Kulaib's childhood, when access to the sounds of the Western world were limited to a cluster of popular mainstream artists like Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Abba and Boney M.

What Kulaib eventually discovered in Prague was another world of music — not only the trance and thrash of '90s rock and dance music, but an array of musical influences exchanged among international students at her Prague dorm, who hailed from countries as diverse as Mozambique and Belgium. "Living in a dormitory was a nice [musical] experience for me," she says. "I heard all kinds of music that I did not hear in Yemen."

Al-Yaman's lush, droning, percussive filigree and electronic orchestration come from a lineup that bridges the world's war zones. In 2000 Kulaib met a Czech wizard of electronic composition, Aleš Hyvnar, and began developing a unique vision of Middle Eastern music. Adding Israeli drummer Jonathan Omer, Palestinian-born Bashar Ashhab on darbuka and conservatory-trained Tomáš Reindl on percussion gave the group melodic and rhythmic wealth. Rounding out the group is Czech funk maestro Jan Hais on bass.

Kulaib's voice puts the strained Orientalism of groups like Dead Can Dance to shame, while Al-Yaman's finely orchestrated rhythm section can give any world beat act a run for its money. Listening to Al-Yaman's 2004 Czech Indies label CD release Hurriya, it's easy to hear what Kulaib means when she says, "This is a band that really loves what it does and gives it from the heart."