Category Archives: Blog

Catching Up

It’s Been a While!

Yes, we need to catch up.

First of all, thanks to all of you who attended the Harmolodic Raga Cycle performance at Music Inn, NYC! It was a marvelous concert (here’s some video).

Now, let’s look ahead!

On Friday, August 28th, I will be joining the Brooklyn Raga Massive All Stars for the next performance of Terry Reily’s “In C.” The performance will start at 7pm, and will be held at the Rubin Museum of Art (150 west 17th street, NYC). Tickets are available. Check us out on facebook.

September will be a landmark for me. On Tuesday, September 1st, 7pm, Openings Collective will be presenting an exhibit titled “On the Inner and Outer Self.” This is happening at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle (405 west 59th st. at Columbus Ave. NYC). I bring this up because I am one of the artists whose work will be featured. This will be my first exhibit. The exhibit will run between 9/1/15 – 10/22/15, and is open to the public.

The next Music Meditation Session will be at the Namaste Healing Center (80 5th avenue, suite 1104, NYC) on Thursday, September 17th, 7pm. The exchange is a mere $15.

The next God’s Unruly Friends performance will be at the University of the Streets on Sunday, October 11th, 7pm. This will be GUF’s FIRST performance in the Bronx!

There will be a Music Meditation Session on Wednesday, October 28th, 6pm at Jivamukti Yoga Center (841 Broadway, NYC). My first Session at Jivamukti!

And don’t forget that God’s Unruly Friends will present a big show at BAM Cafe (30 Lafayette Ave. Brooklyn, NY) on Friday, November 13th. More info to come!

Permit me a little nepotism. September 10th, 11th, & 12th, my wife Kosi will present “Ghosts Appearing Through the Sound: Kosi’s Tribute to Abbey Lincoln” This is happening at the WoW Cafe Theater (61 east 4th st, 4th floor, buzzer 6, NYC) More info here.

Well! That’s a lot of information! Thanks for reading all of this. I look forward to sharing beautiful and unique music with all of you!
.

New Actions!

Well, as of this writing, Ramadan is almost over. Many things are in the works.

Jimmy Lopez and I will be at Silvana (300 west 116th st. NYC) on Tuesday, July 21st 8pm. The music of the Renegade Sufi ensemble as well as other exotic and beautiful music will be presented.

On Thursday, July 23rd 7-9pm I will be at at Jungle Cafe (996 Manhattan Ave. Brooklyn NY). At this point, I’m not sure if this will be a solo or duet performance. I’ll let you all know. 

 

After a hiatus, I have returned to offering the Music Meditation Sessions! The next one is at Namaste Bookshop (2 west 14th st. NYC) on Tuesday, July 31st, 8PM. The exchange will be $15. 

On Wednesday, August 5th, 6-9pm, I will perform at the Rubin Museum of Art (150 west 14th st. NYC). I will be joined by Jimmy Lopez on percussion. This is a free concert in a family friendly venue.  

Join me for the World Premier of the Harmolodic Raga Cycle. This is a series of compositions / improvisational templates that bridge the concepts of harmolodics with the primordial essence of Indian Raga. This will be a solo performance (with possible special guest TBA) at Music Inn (169 west 4th street NYC) on Saturday, August 8th, 9PM. The exchange is $10. 

Looking further ahead, God’s Unruly Friends is planning some more performances, including a date at BAM Cafe in November. We are also in the beginning stages of work on a recording. More details to come.

More news of interest. Leilah Publications has scheduled the 2nd edition of  my novel “A Quantum Hijra,” and the release of my collection of short stories “A Mansion with Many Rooms” soon. I will keep you informed.

There are more wonderful things happening. I’ll keep you all informed.

I need a favor

Yes, I’m in a position where I must ask a favor; something I intensely dislike doing. But it’s not for myself.
 
Kosi (my wife), is producing a concert of her own. It’s a tribute to the great Abbey Lincoln. The details are in this link (kosi-sings.com/fund).
 
She’s financing it through crowd funding. The crowd funding campaign ends this Thursday. If you could find it in your heart to help her, you would be doing a truly noble thing for supporting independent arts and artists.
 
And I can promise you the concert itself will be the work of an up and coming master of jazz vocals. You will not be sorry (or walk away empty handed).
 
Again, the campaign ends this Thursday. Thanks!
 
Dawoud

Another new gig, and something else.

Permit me to announce the World Premier of the Harmolodic Raga Cycle. This is a series of compositions / improvisational templates that bridge the concepts of harmolodics with the primordial essence of Indian Raga. This will be a solo performance (with possible special guest TBA) at Music Inn (169 west 4th street NYC) on Saturday, August 8th, 9PM. The exchange is $10.

If all goes according to plan, the concert will be recorded, and the recording will be released digitally and on CD.

If you’ll permit me, there is one last thing I wish to share.

My wife, master jazz singer Kosi, is presenting a tribute to Abby Lincoln. This unprecedented project includes an upcoming CD release, and the show “Ghosts Appearing Through the Sound”; a three day theatrical run at Wow Cafe Theater (59-61 east 4th street, 4th floor, NYC) on September 10th, 11th, & 12th. Her Rockethub campaign is in the final days. Please check it out; you will not want to miss this.

See you soon! Onward and upward!

Another gig!

 

I booked a gig today!

(Oh, OK: maybe it wasn’t such a spectacular thing. Still,,,)

On Thursday, July 23rd 7-9pm I will be at at Jungle Cafe (996 Manhattan Ave. Brooklyn NY). At this point, I’m not sure if this will be a solo or duet performance. I’ll let you all know.

Don’t forget we’ll be at Silvana (300 west 116th st. NYC) on Tuesday, July 21st 8pm, and at the Rubin Museum of Art (150 west 17th street NYC) on Wednesday, August 5th from 6-9pm. Now, these will doubtless be duet gigs! And not only are the free, the Rubin gig is in a family friendly venue!

You also don’t want to forget that I will be offering the next Music Meditation Session at Namaste Bookshop’s Healing Center (80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1104 (11th Floor) on Tuesday, July 31st (the exchange will be $15.).

So, I have much work to do for you, and you have many things to chose from!

Onward and upward!.



More about Racial Tensions

Lupe Fiasco put it best. There’s nothing “supreme” about white people, and nothing inferior either. We’re like everyone else; we have our good traits and some impressive accomplishments, and we have our bad traits and shameful deeds. Just like everyone else.

The thing I liked about Mr. Fiasco’s statement is that while he acknowledges the failings of my tribe, he does not revile them. In other words, there is no threat in his words. No pointed finger of accusation supported with a curse of “I’m better than you” or a declaration of war. It is simply an observation, and an offer of a simple, practical, and very workable solution on how to fix the problem that is, in the end, an asset to everyone and a liability to none.

And I am not alone among my people in how I feel about this situation. Many simply don’t know how to articulate this. 

We are all still afraid. Like animals in an unfamiliar environment. Some of us – no color implications here – are afraid. And the worst part is that we have been conditioned to love and savor that fear. 

This fear will destroy us all.

My wife recently commented that one of the things she admires about me is that I’m comfortable with myself as a white man, and I have nothing to prove. Those who adopt racist / white supremacist ideals are not truly at peace with the fact that they’re white. They have an inner conflict of some kind or another, and have to bring others down in order to bring themselves up. Their hypocrisy and self deception would be pathetic if it didn’t drive many of them to acts of shocking violence.

There is an old Sufi meditation technique called muraqaba. It means one who observes, and involves looking at oneself from a perspective outside the self. One learns that one is not one’s body, tribe, nation, career, country, race, or even mind. We have these things, but we are not them. This would be useful in solving a great many social ills, and individual psychological-spiritual crisis.

http://thesource.com/…/lupe-fiasco-posts-dear-white-suprem…/

Random Musing

Someone I know rejected a statement I made wherein I mentioned that there is a terrible spiritual crisis in our society. He claimed there was none.

I must, of course, disagree.

Our souls are sick. Our hearts are fighting – or willingly embracing – a disease. Intellect alone cannot solve this. What good is intellect when we have forgotten what it means to be truly human? In such a state, our intellects will only doom us.

The false idols our minds make of things we see, or think we see, are betraying us. Our invented ideologies are betraying us, and forcing us to turn against our brothers and sisters, and wreak unspeakable violence and ruin upon the world while claiming we are making peace.

There is a belief / myth that we only use 10% of our brain’s capacity. How much of our heart’s and spirit’s capacity are we using? Probably a lot less than we think.

As I write this, there are some very disturbing things in the news. More than I can list here (without becoming sick to my stomach). But when I think and meditate on it, I keep coming back again and again to one indisputable fact: there are NO political solutions to any of this. Only spiritual solutions. Listen for the call to cooperation. This is where healing will be found.

The Adventure Continues!

First of all, for those of you who are reading this who are Muslims, Ramadan Mubarak! I pray this Ramadan is a blessed and beautiful experience for you. And for those of you who are not Muslim, I offer the same!

These past two weeks, I’ve been getting acclimated to being a married man (and recovering from the wedding). And concurrently, some interesting things have been coming up.

God’s Unruly Friends is planning some more performances, including a date in November at BAM Cafe in November. We are also in the beginning stages of work on a recording. More details to come.

On Friday, July 3rd, at 6:45, I will offer music for a yoga class taught by Jessica Stickler. The class is at Jivamukti Yoga Center (841 Broadway, 2nd floor, NYC).

After a hiatus, I have returned to offering the Music Meditation Sessions! The next one is at Namaste Bookshop (2 west 14th st. NYC) on Tuesday, July 31st, 8PM. The exchange will be $15.

Looking a bit a head, On Wednesday, August 5th, 6-9pm, I will perform at the Rubin Museum of Art (150 west 14th st. NYC). I will be joined by Jimmy Lopez on percussion. This is a free concert in a family friendly venue.

The 2nd edition of  my novel “A Quantum Hijra,” and the release of my collection of short stories “A Mansion with Many Rooms” is scheduled for Ramadan. I will keep you all informed.

Looking forward to sharing these experiences with you!!

A Personal Announcement.

kosi at cornilia

Normally, I don’t share a lot of personal information online. However, I thought the following merits an exception.

The lovely lady in the photo is Kosi (a.k.a. Akosua Gyebi). Some months back, she consented to be my wife. Today, Sunday, June 14th, 2015, we are to be wed at Masjid Farah in New York City.

She is a most remarkable woman! She’s brought me a great deal of happiness and inspiration. And you will doubtless be interested to know she is an amazing singer. Check her out at kosi-sings.com, or here.

The Prophet Muhammad (sas) said that a woman is the other half of a man. I am complete.

Technicality vs Simplicity: the Ongoing Battle

Many musicians argue about technicality vs simplicity. They work themselves into a lather over one side of this idea or another. And there’s been no resolution one way or another. After 44 years of listening to people yapping about this, I have come to an inescapable conclusion.

If a specific piece of music works, it works. John Coltrane’s solos on A Love Supreme have a lot of notes, and they all create a singular transcendental beauty. On the other hand, I was watching a video of BB King recently. At one point he played one note, just one note, and it stopped me dead in my tracks. Same thing with the first time I saw Ravi Shankar live. He could play a gazzillion notes like anyone, and it all makes a deep and sublime statement; but during an alap that night he played one note that was the most perfectly executed note I ever heard. Jimi Hendrix,,, well, you get the point.

These arguments about technicality vs simplicity are ultimately irrelevant.

I say; by all means, develop technique and your knowledge of music. It’s impossible to do anything without some measure of technical skill. This is not the end, it’s a means to an end. Beyond this,  look first and foremost to the psychoactive properties of music. Look to what music does, and what it means. Start at the end of the process; I.e. start with what you’re hoping to achieve with the music you make. If you need to play a lot of notes or just a few notes to achieve a specific result, there’s your answer. And if you’re just improvising and allowing the music to unfold, don’t concern yourself about any of it. Allow the music to happen as it happens; and make sure your instrument – including the instruments of your body and mind – are up to the task.

Now, pick up your instrument, or open your mouth, and make some music.