On Sunday, March 9th, 2016, God’s Unruly Friends presented a concert at St. Mark’s on the Bowery in NYC. A few video clips of the concert were made available.
Now, the entire concert is available to watch on YouTube.com
The concert is here.
Many more cool things are in the works. Until we meet again.
God’s Unruly Friends has a YoTube channel. OK: this is not an unusual thing. But I’m trying to get a custom URL (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpI7wAuCWOYswkLcQopZPzA is so clumsy).
The thing is, the new eligibility requirements mandate that I have 100 subscribers.
Since this is a new channel (and I been a bit busy to promote it), I do not have 100 subscribers yet.
Would you help me, and subscribe? Just go here, and click “subscribe.” That’s it.
Thanks!!
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.
I have a confession.
Well, not really a confession, but something I should share. A few days ago (as I write this) I was doing a Music Meditation at Namaste. About 15 or 20 minutes into it, one of my electronic devices I use in this and other musical applications died. Well, I had to think fast. I bypassed it, and continued.
The quality of the performance was not affected in any way. Frankly, I’d be a pitiful excuse for a musician if I let it be affected.
It reminded me of some years ago when I played at the Apollo in NYC. I was doing a solo sitar performance with laptop accompaniment. As the first of my allotted three songs ended, my laptop froze up. So, I improvised my way around it. Later, I mentioned this to a friend in the audience. She said she wasn’t aware that I was having technical problems. I siad “You weren’t meant to.”
If I use a single acoustic instrument, or an arsenal of instruments and electronic devices, it all exists to derve the same purpose. Each one is but a tool. You either use it, or not.
In the end, the music, and its effects in the hearts of the audience are all that matter. All else are details.
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.
There are more wonderful things happening. I’ll keep you all informed.
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!.
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…/
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!!
Yes, I know I’ve been promising you I’d post new videos. Here they are, better late than never.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Rr5vNcdw4&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf44iLXFqWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilAhr3HeM1M&feature=youtu.be
Enjoy! And don’t forget to post a nice comment.