Personal Performances

Zikrayat at Joe's Pub, Sami at Queens Council on the Arts

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:54:00 GMT

Well, it's been a new life for me lately... I haven't been active with the podcasts or blog because I've been going through a lot of changes... though I'm embarrassed to say that I still have a few podcast recordings I haven't posted yet (especially a really good one from Sinan Erdemsel).

So Zikrayat (www.zikrayatmusic.com) is kicking off its most exciting season yet with a performance tonight at Joe's Pub, as part of the Brooklyn Maqam festival that's been going on this month (sponsored by the Brooklyn Arts Council www.brooklynartscouncil.org) I'm really excited and nervous, because it's our highest profile show to date and it's already sold out! well, not technically--because the tickets are free--but all reservations have been taken, and Reuter's TV is coming to film and interview us...

We're performing back to back with Amir ElSaffar's (www.amirelsaffar.com) Iraqi Maqam group, Safaafir. On Tuesday night both he and I had an interview at WBAI, and I also brought our oud player Dimitri Mikelis, and our new vocalist Salah Rajab, and we did some nice performing in the studio... it was nice to do a little back and forth with Amir. You can listen to the interview & performances online at: http://archive.wbai.org/pls.php?mp3fil=17376 , or download the mp3 directly at: http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/080319_000001morc.MP3

We have a number of other exciting shows coming up this spring... check in with the Zikrayat website to find out more. Robin and I have been crazy busy planning, organizing, and rehearsing for these shows (including another really exciting show slated for May 15th at the CUNY graduate center, which will be a multimedia presentation featuring live performances accompanying silently-projected clips of the vocal and dance numbers from Egyptian films that we'll be performing).

But my other big news is that I am now a full-time employee of the queens council on the arts (www.queenscouncilarts.org); I'm the new director of the Queens Community Arts Fund, which is the re-granting program of the Queens council... basically I administer money from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and JPMorgan Chase that we re-grant to artists and non-profit arts organizations in Queens. for 2008 we gave $247,000 to 85 different artists and organizations.

A big part of my work is outreach to the Queens arts community, encouraging artists and organizations to apply for our grants--so if you are a Queens artist or know any Queens artists who might be interested in applying for grants through the Queens council, don't hesitate to contact me at 718-647-3377 x19 or email me at sshumays (at) queenscouncilarts (dot) org applications for the 2009 funding cycle will be due this september and october.

I'm now in my second week of work here, and I'm really loving it. The office is in the middle of Forest Park in Queens, my co-workers are great, and I'm gradually getting to meet more artists and organizations in Queens--so it's really rewarding. Of course it is a major adjustment in my lifestyle, especially given that we've been so busy with performances, rehearsals, and preparations this last month...

I'll do my best to keep posting podcasts... though I'm not promising anything! but I have a number of musicians that I keep talking about doing podcasts with... so if you check back, you may see some more posts eventually!

Off to San Francisco

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:49:00 GMT

Well, in a few hours i'll be getting on a plane to San Francisco for a week of rehearsals, workshops and a concert with Aswat, a Bay-Area-based Arabic choir and orchestra--at which I'll be one of several guest artists, including a wonderful vocalist from Tunisia, Noureddine Kallel. For any of you in the Bay Area, the concert will be this coming Saturday, Dec. 1st in San Mateo. details can be found at Aswat's website, www.zawaya.org

I'll be giving a few maqam masterclasses on thursday evening and sunday afternoon, details at www.maqamlessons.com

I'm very much looking forward to seeing a lot of friends and students from Lark camp--I have to say, I really like the world music scene out there in northern california. Unlike here in New York, it seems like a lot of musicians from a lot of different traditions know each other; they get together and explore each other's music quite a bit. Here in New York, I know almost all of the Arab musicians & musicians who play for Middle Eastern Dance; but I know only a few Indian Musicians, and almost no musicians from other traditions... But I know they're out there! (I'LL FIND YOU!!!)

But of course I'll miss my wife for a week. We just had a lovely little vacation together in the Hudson Valley, at a place called Greenwood Lake, near Warwick, NY. (we stayed at a wonderful inn called Anton's on the Lake www.antonsonthelake.com that I highly recommend). We visited a spa, a winery, and a lovely art and craft town called Sugar Loaf, NY. It was a nice little vacation; we went there last year, too, for some apple picking (you can see a sickeningly cute picture of us posing our faces in a cut-out painting of a lamb and a pig in front of an apple tree--from our trip last year--in my gallery).

So I'm off!

Zikrayat at Alwan Nov. 17th

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:21:00 GMT

Before you listen, please take a minute and vote for us (Zikrayat) for the
2008 Independent Music Awards--we need your votes to win!
vote here: www.musiciansatlas.com
see the post below for more details.

This is our most recent performance from Alwan www.alwanforthearts.org
last Saturday night. We had a great crowd and I think it was our best show yet! The lineup was:

myself, on violin, vocals, rababa
Bridget Robbins, Nay
Tareq Abboushi, Buzuq, vocals
Dimitri Mikelis, Oud
Johnny Farraj, Riqq, vocals
Nikolai Ruskin, Tabla, vocals
     with
Salah Ragab on vocals
Gaida on vocals
     and
Dances by Dameshe, Leela, Nahara, and Yowalka

This is the first set of the show, and it featured Salah singing with us for the first time--he sang three songs beautifully; "Gameel Gamal," the second of the three, was really amazing. . . so full of soul and tarab; it's hard to believe he's performing for the first time--he's only 19, and has never sang publicly before this event!

Here's the set:
1. Doulab Zanjaran   --(composed by myself)
2. Pickles --(composed by Tareq Abboushi
3. "Naima veil"--a dance number we found on an old film of Naima Akif called "Ahibbak Ya Hassan"; Dameshe did a solo to this number.
4. "Ya-msahar eini" --a song for the pop singer Rami Ayash, featuring Salah Ragab
5. "Gameel Gamal"--a song by Farid el-Atrash, featuring Salah; Nahara did a Shamadan solo (flaming candles on her head) to this number.
6. "Yana Yana"--a song for Sabah, featuring Salah
7. "Mafeesh Filoos"--a song for Lebanese singer Nasri Shams id-Din; with myself on vocals; Dameshe, Leela, and Yowalka performed a group choreography to this number.

Enjoy!

IMA Awards, updated site

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:36:00 GMT

Dear Friends, Listeners, Fans,

First, our Album "Zikrayat: Live at Lotus" has been named a Finalist in the 2008 Independent Music Awards! I'm very excited, but I need your help: fan's votes will determine the final winner, and if we win they will make substantial promotional efforts for us in 2008, including selling our music in Border's Books.

So please take a minute to visit: the IMA jukebox at:
IMA Jukebox
and vote for us now. If that link doesn't work, go to:
http://www.musiciansatlas.com/pages/IMAFinalist
click on "Album Finalists" and go to the category "Live Performances"
If you'd like to hear samples of other tracks from the album not included on the jukebox, please visit:
http://zikrayatmusic.com

The other news is, you can see for yourself, that i've updated and re-coded my website so that it and this blog page would be one entity rather than two. I've been learning HTML and CSS coding over the last few months (in order to supplement my income a bit), and even though the website doesn't look that different--you can see the old site at
http://samimusicworld.com/archive/originalsite/index.html
I've entirely re-coded it into CSS to make it standards compliant. The design is the original one by my wife; the new design doesn't change much visually, except changing most of the text into html rather than photoshop images. you can view the source code if you like.

So, I know I keep saying i'm going to resume putting up regular podcasts (as well as the maqamlessons), and i will--thanks to all of you from all over the world who have written asking about them!--but it was suggested to me that i should actually start blogging, to keep fans and friends informed--and i realized that i haven't been taking full advantage of this page--i can put up blog posts in addition to podcast mp3s. So this marks the start of that: i'll be putting up blog entries about what's going on with myself and zikrayat, in addition to podcast mp3s.

Thanks for listening and writing!

Yours,
Sami

Amir ElSaffar discusses "Two Rivers"

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:00:00 GMT

Amir ElSaffar, Iraqi-American Jazz Trumpet player, Singer and Santur player, discusses his newly released CD Two Rivers. He talks about the different ways he has combined Iraqi Music (of the Baghdad Maqam tradition) with Jazz in these pieces, and talks a little about his history with both kinds of music.

The CD is available now on Pi Recordings and at amazon.com

for more information on Amir and the album, please visit the Two Rivers myspace page and Amir's Website: www.amirelsaffar.com

CD release party at Joe's pub, Monday Oct. 22nd, 9:30pm

Anne Elise Thomas on Qanun

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:11:00 GMT

Anne Elise and I chat about The global youth village
http://globalyouthvillage.org/,
where we were teaching in July; and the Jefferson Center
http://jeffcenter.org/
in Roanoke, VA, where she is the educational programs coordinator

Global Youth Village 2007

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:20:00 GMT

The young students at the Global Youth Village play 3 pieces (doulab bayati, doulab sikah, doulab hijaz) they learned by ear in their first week, and talk about how learning arabic music is different than the kinds of music they do. For more information on Global Youth Village, please visit: www.globalyouthvillage.org

Brian Steeger, musician extraordinaire

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:05:00 GMT

This is the last podcast from last year's lark camp... as I depart for this year's camp... The incomparable Brian Steeger, one of the true characters from lark camp, plays some music, makes us laugh, and gives his philosophical reflections on music.

Mark and Ling Shien Bell

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 04:33:00 GMT

Recorded after Lark Camp last year. Mark and Ling Shien are a husband and wife musician team based in Marin County, CA, in the Bay area. They've just released their latest CD "Spice Box" and updated their website:

www.helmmusic.com

In this podcast we highlight their musical diversity and chat about their history together.

Bridget Robbins on Nay and Flute

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:39:00 GMT

Bridget Robbins plays nay and flute; we play a turkish piece, a baroque flute duet, she plays an armenian piece, and we play some Arabic tunes... and some nice conversation...

Zikrayat Live at Lotus outtakes part A

Fri, 25 May 2007 07:53:00 GMT

In honor of the release of our new CD, "Zikrayat: Live at Lotus,"
I have made a podcast featuring many of the pieces from the original performances that I had decided not to include on the CD. My wife robin and I talk about the ensemble, the CD, and some of what we've done over the last year.

You can purchase the CD online at CDBaby and Amazon. To those who do: thanks for supporting our dream!

If you haven't seen our website yet, please visit www.zikrayatmusic.com

The podcast is in two parts, see part B below.

Zikrayat Live at Lotus outtakes part B

Fri, 25 May 2007 07:50:00 GMT

In the second half of the podcast, robin and I talk a little about our theatrical ambitions, our way of working together, and I talk about how I mastered the CD, with six 1-minute excerpts of "Yamma-l-amar" illustrating the steps I took.

Microtones in Arabic Music

Fri, 2 Feb 2007 20:38:00 GMT

This is a lecture/demo on microtones.

I demonstrate the wide variety of microtones in use in Arabic music (by my count, at least 12 within a half step);

I explain:
1. the problems with describing the microtones used in arabic maqams as "quarter-tones"--since they are not exactly a quarter of anything.
2. the problems with the Comma system (the system of 54 divisions of the octave)
3. the problem with seeking too systematic an explanation of the microtones.

And I offer a different approach to understanding and learning intonation in arabic music: through relationships with other notes, and in particular through melodies and melodic phrases.

For those of you interested in a more thorough, academic treatment of the subject, I am working on a paper to flesh out some of the details, which I will link to this page. This podcast is intended for a general audience.

At the end, Johnny Farraj, of maqamworld fame, joins me for a few pieces.

Zikrayat Rehearses for APAP

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 05:30:00 GMT

This is half of a rehearsal for our showcase next week at the national convention of APAP (the Association of Performing Artist Presenters) here in New York City.

It is a free concert, open to the public. Jan 21, at 6:15 pm. The show is 20 minutes long. For more details, please see our website:
www.zikrayatmusic.com

Tareq Abboushi on Buzuq

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:07:00 GMT

Tareq, a longtime musical friend of mine, plays buzuq (a long-necked, fretted lute he refers to as "the banjo of the middle east"), and talks about his musical interests, from classical (he started playing piano at around age 5; his mother is a piano teacher at the Edward Said national music conservatory in Ramallah, Palestine) to jazz (he attended William Patterson University in New Jersey, getting a degree in Jazz Piano) to Arabic, to his own project, "Shusmo"--meaning "What's it's name?" in Arabic. He plays one of the tunes from Shusmo's first album, as well as one of the tunes he's currently working on. We finish with a duet improvisation in Maqam Hijaz.

To find out more about Tareq, and to listen to and purchase Shusmo's first CD (appropriately titled "One"), please visit www.shusmo.com and
myspace.com/shusmo1

I will add, by way of recommendation, that this CD is my favorite so-called "fusion" Album out there--actually one of the only ones I can stand!

Faisal Zidan on Riqq

Sun, 5 Nov 2006 16:29:00 GMT

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 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!

Ernest Lee Fischbach

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 00:44:00 GMT

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

Introductory Maqam Lesson

Tue, 3 Oct 2006 18:01:00 GMT

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 of Kan Zaman

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 18:57:00 GMT

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 -Smyrna Time Machine and Sinan Erdemsel

Sat, 2 Sep 2006 05:14:00 GMT

Part 2 --just a continuation of episode 11.

Smyrna Time Machine & Sinan Erdemsel part 1

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 23:38:00 GMT

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 Farraj compares similar rhythms

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 21:56:00 GMT

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

Sami Plays Doulab-s

Sun, 2 Jul 2006 22:03:00 GMT

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 plays Qanun

Wed, 24 May 2006 12:31:00 GMT

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 LeCorgne on Percussion

Tue, 9 May 2006 02:39:00 GMT

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

Dameshe discusses dance

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 19:45:00 GMT

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 Brunka Plays oud

Sat, 8 Apr 2006 17:38:00 GMT

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 Farraj on Riqq

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 19:11:00 GMT

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 Sings Iraqi Maqam & plays Santour

Sun, 12 Mar 2006 19:18:00 GMT

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

Nikolai Ruskin plays Nay

Fri, 3 Mar 2006 17:35:00 GMT

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/

Arabic violin history

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 21:39:00 GMT

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

Introductory Podcast

abushumays@hotmail.com — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 17:35:00 GMT

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.