Dan – حبيبي فنك : Issam Hajali – “Ana Damir El Motakallim” (Lebanon 1976) Habibi Funk – This wild journey of a song, by Issam Hajali, was recorded in Paris with another Lebanese musician and a gathering of international contributors . it offers some sonic situations that I really enjoy. I always aim for that international Multi-Culti convergence of regional styles blending with popular music. I love deciphering the threads of influence, from traditional to modern, that are blending int here instances. What music were these musicians listening to when they created it? What is borrowed and what is newly designed? How did they experiment using technology? And, where did the music go after its creation? Who would hear it? In this case not many people , but it somehow found its way to reissue at some point, despite maybe a 100 copies originally being distributed. These questions speak to the diversity of humanity and the ways we accomplish our goals. Nawi and I had a fun little trip, despite the song not being actually all that funky.
Nawi – Koji Kondo – “Mario Bros” We observed this as a Rag, it definitely has some Rag features. We were discussing a Rag that I wrote a few years ago, because I haven’t recorded it yet, and aiming to get it recorded soon. I guess that sparked Nawi’s thought that this song is a Rag, and I agree it could work as a strain of a Rag. We even tried a person Ragging it, but it wasn’t really working for us.
George Gershwin – “Novelette in Fourths“ – There is an eerie quality piano rolls, the dynamics have a phasing quality that sounds like I’m wandering through rooms next to the performance. After discussing Rags we diverged (bumpily) into this Gershwin collection.Nawi was recalling the Rag elements that Gershwin brought to his music and it felt like a good direction to link to. I have these recordings myself and enjoy them, they aren’t as stiff as the typical piano rolls/player piano music would be. Nawi explained that Gershwin’s piano rolls were fed into a Disklavier and augmented by a Pianola which can add live effects to the performance of the rolls.
Found Sounds 