Sami Abu Shumays

Recorded in August at Lark Camp.

Faisal Zidan, a Syrian percussionist from the SF Bay area, plays riqq, sings muwashshahat with me, plays some complicated rhythms (including a 32-beat rhythm for the muwashshah "Ya Murru <Ujban"), & jams with me.
  He talks a little about his love for these old songs and complex rhythms, and how he started learning muwashshahat.  He also mentions his involvement with Kan Zaman.  He has no website, but he plugs his friend's percussion website www.iqaat.com.

you can hear a lot of Lark Camp in the background!

Ernie, one of the real characters of Lark Camp, plays buzuki, sings the blues, and plays flamenco guitar.  He also talks about the bands he almost was in ("The Monkees"), how Lark Camp was started, gives some advice to musicians, and tells stories about musicians and the music scene in California.

for more on Ernie, see his PAGE
as well as that of the Institute for Traditional Studies

This is an introduction to my other podcast feed, maqamlessons.

I took samples recorded from a class at Lark Camp this last August, and explain how the maqam lessons are structured & how best to use them.  I also talk a little about my teaching philosophy.
to subscribe to maqamlessons, please use RSS feed:
http://maqamlessons.com/rss
the blog page is www.maqamlessons.com

Wael Kakish, the current director and one of the founders of Kan Zaman, a community-based Arabic music ensemble in Los Angeles, plays oud, sings a few songs, and talks about Kan Zaman.  We are also accompanied by percussionist Faisal Zidan, who will appear in a later podcast.  This podcast was recorded in August at Lark Camp.
For more information about Kan Zaman, please visit their website:
www.kanzaman.org

Part 2 --just a continuation of episode 11.

We compare some maqams shared by the Greeks, Turks, & Arabs: specifically, Sikah & Huzam, Rast, and Saba.  This podcast was recorded in camp 3 of Lark camp, in the Mendocino Woodlands in northern California.  Part 1 of a two-part episode. 

Greek Rebetika and Smyrnaica music by the Smyrna Time Machine; visit them on the web at: www.rebetes.com
Visit Turkish oud player Sinan Erdemsel on the web at: www.oudist.com
to find out about Lark Camp, visit: www.larkcamp.com
to find out about Sinan's Music and Dance camp in Turkey, visit: www.orientalcamp.com

Johnny plays riqq & demonstrates similar rhythms in 4/4, & shows how they can be interchanged.  we use a few examples from pieces, and a little improvisation on these rhythms

I play a number of different short instrumental pieces of the genre Doulab (pl. dawalib), which is used to introduce a mode, a song, or an improvisation. I play some traditional syrian & egyptian dawalib, two from the Iraqi Maqam repertory, and four of my own composition.

Anne Elise Thomas plays Qanun, an Arabic trapezoidal zither. We play doulab kurd and she improvises a bit. We chat about music pedagogy in Egypt & her recently completed thesis (congratulations, Dr. Thomas!!!). we end with the Samai Kurd by Abdu Dagher (a famous Egyptian violinist).

Nicole plays frame drum with me, talks about how she got into percussion in Minneapolis, her recent visit to New Orleans, her photographs from Morocco, and her upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia. She also talks about working with Michel Merhej on his percussion book. for more information about Nicole, and to see her photographs from Morocco, please visit www.nicolelecorgne.com

My wife Robin ("Dameshe") plays zills with me on Tamr hinna, talks about Egyptian film star and dancer Naima Akif, how she and I got interested in Egyptian Film music, and what we've been doing with Zikrayat, our new ensemble. To hear our new demos, please visit www.zikrayatmusic.com To read robin's article about dance, please visit www.thehipcircle.com

Brian starts with an improvisation, we play one of his pieces (Aqsaq Nakriz), and we chat about the Oud, the Guitar, and his jazz playing in New Orleans and New York. We end with part of Mohamed Abdel Wahhab's "Beladil Mahbuub." For more information about Brian and his various projects, please visit his website www.brianprunka.com

Johnny talks about the riqq, (a tambourine-like hand drum) and its role in Arabic Music; He talks about the Takht (typical classical ensemble) and being Zabit il-Iqa (the leader of the rhythm), and demonstrates several styles of playing and several different rhythms; Nikolai Ruskin and I play along. for more information from Johnny about Arabic music, see also www.maqamworld.com

Amir ElSaffar plays santour, an ancient Iraqi instrument (similar to a hammered dulcimer), and sings selections from Maqam Hwayzawi. We talk a little about how the Iraqi Maqam is different from other Arab music repertories, and Amir illustrates with examples from Hwayzawi. We chat about how he got into Iraqi music, his upcoming jazz commission in Philadelphia, and how he got to be so good at English. Amir's new website is:www.amirelsaffar.com For more information on his performance in Philadelphia on March 25th, please visit www.paintedbride.org for details about his performance with Zikrayat in New York on March 16th, please visit www.zikrayatmusic.com

Multi-instrumentalist Nikolai Ruskin plays the low C Nay (Arabic end-blown cane flute), with me accompanying on Rababa (Egyptian folk bowed string instrument). Nikolai discusses his feelings about the Nay, how he got into Arabic music, and how he thinks non-Arabs can learn Arabic music. for more information on the Cornell Middle Eastern Music Ensemble in Ithaca, NY, please visit: www.arts.cornell.edu/cmeme/ for more information about Nikolai, please visit: www.nikolairuskin.com/

I start with a long improvisation in Maqam Rast, and have a short discussion of the history of the violin in Arabic Music

I play the music I played for Robin to come down the aisle in our wedding last year, explain my intent with the podcast, and end with a new composition.