Last night (11/13/15), God’s Unruly Friends played at Bam Cafe in Brooklyn. Permit me to shout out to Kaveh Haghtalab, Tom Chess, and Chenana Manno for performances above and beyond the call to duty!
However, the event coincided with the Paris attacks, and the vibe was, shall I say, heavy.
I recall a story. The night when Martin Luther King was killed, Jimi Hendrix was booked to play Newark NJ (of all places). They wanted to cancel the concert, but Hendrix said no; he would do the show. Everyone was scared of the possibility of race riots. Hendrix walked on stage, and said “This is for a friend of mine.” He then abandoned all his usual songs, and improvised a long blues ballad that was so moving even the theater stagehands and janitors were in tears. (Naturally, nobody recorded it).
As you know, I’m a Muslim. And as it stands, I and my people are pretty much all “on trial” for the events in Paris. Whoever did those horrible attacks in Paris (and all over the Middle East, for that matter) are NOT Muslims! I see absolutely no Islam in what they do, and refuse to acknowledge ANY connection between them and real Islam. They are NOT my brothers in religion.
To the people of Paris, my heart goes out to you. I’ve visited your beautiful city a number of times, and your people are wonderful. Stay strong, and know that there are a lot of people who are sending love your way.
I’m a musician, and in many ways, I count for very little in this world. I have to do what I can with what I have. God’s Unruly Friends’ performance last night was us using our music as an imposition of love and spiritual power upon a political upheaval to counteract the presence of evil, oppression, and destruction. I pray it did some good. I pray that my music brings something useful into a chaos of futility, and something beautiful into a world of ugliness.