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On Wednesday, August 12th, Rashid Ali, former drummer with John Coltrane, passed away. May Allah grant him peace.

I met and hung out with Rashid Ali once. He was a quiet, soft spoken man. His demeanor was c1early that of a man who was a master at his craft; but saw no reason to prove it. He didn’t speak much; he played his drums.

Ali Akbar Khan, Les Paul, Rashid Ali: We’re losing the giants. 

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We lost another giant; the great Les Paul. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/13/obit.les.paul/

Les Paul was a truly great man. A guitar virtuoso and electronics genius, who invented multitrack recording, and made great innovations in the infancy of the electric guitar. Without him, music technology would not be what it is now.

I had an interesting meeting with Les Paul. I was working as an engineer at a radio station. During a gap in the programming schedule, I was required to play music to fill the air time. I chose Strunz & Farah; something I played regularly during this time. One day I got a phone call from a man asking what I was playing. I told him, introduced myself, and asked who he was. He said “My name is Les Paul.”

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather! We spoke on the phone for almost an hour, exchanging stories and thoughts. I really enjoyed this conversation. He was a really nice guy!

Rest in Peace, Les. And thanks for everything!

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Check out my NEW page on tunecore!

www.tunecore.come/music/renegadesufi

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As mentioned in the blogs,  I’ve collaborated with such artists as DJ Celt Islam (www.myspace.com/celtislam), Ilja Stankovic (http://www.youtube.com/balkanmusiccenter http://www.myspace.com/gypsygroovz), and Ren Udae (www.thegravaton.com). In addition to contributing sitar tracks, I’m also venturing into the realm of producing electronica, downtempo, dub, drum & bass, etc. Some of the material is receiving radio airplay in England on BBC Radio.

Nascente recently released THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO BUDDHA LOUNGE, a compilation of various artists. This three CD set is part of the Buddha Bar compilations that established the world of multicultural grooves. One of the finest tracks on the complialtion is “Fakir” by Celt Islam Soundsystem. This track features me on sitar,  credited as a co writer. For a review of the CD, go to http://www.mraentertainment.com/index.php?IID=8152&func=itemview&module=pncommerce

Production on my new CD is making great progress (a little slow, but things are happening). The sitar will still be the dominant voice in the music, but other things will be in the works as well. The new music will be available here when its finished (including music that will not be on the upcoming CD, and will ONLY be available as downloads). The music promises to explore a new element of the spiritual / mystic Sufi tradition, and to build on what my sitar work, compositions and improvisations have done in the past. The CD release date will probably be early in 2010.

My recent performances in the Milwaukee / Chicago area were a success; and were very well received. I had some brilliant musicians with me, including Roman Ediresinghe, Glenn Asch, and Carlos Adame.

Work on my Magnum Opus: “The Isra wa Miraj Suite” a seven part suite based on the Night Journey and Miraj of the Prophet Muhammad (sas) is progressing. As of this writing, I’m still in the research stage (this is NOT something I’m just going to knock out! But then again, it took Beethoven years to complete his 9th symphony, and was worth the wait). In addition to my sitar work, areas for improvisation and composed parts for a variety of instruments will appear in the piece.

In addition to all this, I finished my book! It’s a sci-fi novel titled “Tales from the Sufi Warrior.” I am weighing my publishing options, and plan to make it available here as a download.

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Looking back,,,,

Check out these radio interviews:

http://www.radioislam.com/_asx/WCEV1450/2008-07-06-1450.asx
(the interview starts about 38 minutes into the show, but the first part is well worth listening to). My interview with Mary Barlin of WMSE-FM in Milwaukee:

http://www.wmse.org/archive/new.php?dow=Sat&hour=180
(Look for the listing for 2008-06-28, and click download or stream. The interview starts about fifteen minutes into the show and lasts almost three hours).

Some time ago, I did the soundtrack of an independent film called RAM (dir. Edwin Porres): a sci-fi short about a robot that dreams its human. Very “Philip K. Dick!” The music was a slight departure. I did not play sitar, but composed electronic music for the film. I also recorded two ragas for the movie “Sukoon” directed by film maker and artist Fareen Butt, sitar tracks to a recording by nasheed singer Khaleel Muhammad’s new UK single “Blessed Mustapha”. My appearance playing sitar in Sylvana Viene’s “Beyond Baklava” was recently included in a promotional short narrated by Patricia Neal. (http://utopianvision.co.uk/bollywood/videos/?v=jNvXg5Jw0c8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNvXg5Jw0c8)

Renegade Sufi was recently reviewed on “The Lounge”: a TV show produced by Just Say Go Films Inc. To see it, go to http://www.justsaygofilms.com/movies/lounge_001.html

Come back to this website again. Something is always happening.

And I like having you here!

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