Jun 7, 2007

Aswat's June 2nd Concert

Aswat, the San Francisco Arabic Music Ensemble - part of Zawaya.org, had a very nice concert last Saturday June 2nd, 2007. As some know, I play the Nay with them. They are very professional, and a lot has gone into preparations of this concert.

Here's a video of the very first piece we performed. It's a Sama'i (a common form in classical arabic and turkish music - it's made of 4 parts, where 2nd part keeps coming back). This piece was composed by Safar Ali, who was a prolific classical Arabic music composer from Egypt (1884-1962). It's in Nahawand maqam, which is similar to the Western Minor scale.

More videos soon inshallah. Hope you like it:
(note - wait for the short Nay solo part towards the end)
Credits: Video by my brother Saad Arrabi - check the nice smooth zoom-in & out movement.

9 comments:

  1. Nice music indeed. Good job muhammed on the "nay" it looks like your professional in this clip. Keep it up. Mabrook for your new born Yetraba be3ezak inshallah.

    Fadi El-Agha

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  2. really good.
    where do guys play in San Francisco?
    I live in San Jose and would love to attend.

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  3. very very nice. i'm glad i didn't hear you during your practice to be surprised how professional you are. the nay sound is very obvious all through the musical piece and the solo is very well done. wish i was there.

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  4. Fadi: thanks ya cousin. I'm very glad you liked it. Yak, the suits make us look pros - although the ensemble is made of volunteers. I'm the least experienced amongst them. They are very good musicians.

    Globalorama: check our website at http://www.zawaya.org/aswat.html We don't always play. We uslaly have 1-2 concerts per year. I'll try to let you know when we have the next one. On another note, I live also in south bay (santa clara). let's meet. email me at arrabi@gmail.com

    Fofo: thanks for your very nice words - sweet words just like the person who said them :-) I'll do a special concert for you when you come back.

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  5. oh there you are, right next to the Qanoon guy! a very sweet piece of music! great stuff man :-)

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  6. Im the great grandson of safar-aly, my father knew this song off by heart before i even started playing it. Are his music pieces recorded on CD?

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  7. Salam Samir,
    nice! your father is a great composer.

    We, Aswat Group, don't have a CD out. But this piece is quite famous, and I'm sure you can find it on many CDs.

    If you need a specific link to a CD, let me know, and I can look for you.

    hope this helps,
    Muhammad

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  8. why does the first violinist hold his violin with his right arm?
    wonderful piece of music by the way!

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  9. thanks Anonymous
    Hussein, the amazing violin player, is left handed. So he holds it with his right hand. Interestingly enough, he also holds the oud upside down (flipped) to play with the different hand.

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