Against Self-censorship in Arts and Music...

A few days ago, German website Qantara.com published the following interview about self censorship and music in Arabia, it starts with...

"Ruba Saqr sings her self-composed folk songs as authentically as her vocal improvisations inspired by Islamic mysticism. She is one of Jordan's most promising musical talents. Martina Sabra met her in Amman..."

I met Martina Sabra, the interviewer, in Amman a few months ago in Jebal Lweibdeh, we had tea together when I invited her to attend my alternative Sufi evening, "3 Women Only," at the Amman Summer Festival of August this year. She said she'll try her best and that she was supposed to be in Palestine around the same time. Well, she ended up attending the concert and giving me some great feedback.

When I read the article, I felt I looked a bit ego-centric in there, I think that's OK for singers and musicians in our part of the world (or anywhere really), but I am starting to hate it. People can continue to do what they like to do without being pompous about it, me included. I don't know if I'm self-whipping right now, but if there is one thing I learnt from Sufism, it is that Al 3izzatu liLLAhi Jamee3an (all Glory is God's).

There are many Sufi parables about how God has two robes: 3izza and Kibriya2 (I don't know what those translate into in English... maybe: Glory &... emmm... Greatness). If a person (al 3abd) attempts to wear one of them, God breaks him/her in half. The ego likes to think it's great, capable and wonderful. Satan was thrown out of Heaven because he thought he was better than Adam, 3alayhi al Salam. He told God: "you created me from fire, and created him from soil, how come you're asking me to bow for him!" What Satan forgot is that God created him in the first place, and that God can chose to turn soil into a "better" matter than fire (figuratively speaking). Ego was born that day with Satan, who was on the verge of being an angle, but not quite an angle due to his composition.

Moral of the story is... this talent is not mine, it's a gift from God, or rather an amaneh one is entrusted with.

Interview with Ruba Saqr in Palestine's Min Wa Ila magazine

This December (2008), Min Wa Ila Magazine published an interview with, well, me. I'm Ruba. The interviewer is Tarek Hamdan, who conducted a radio interview with me on Watan FM (Jordan) a few months ago. The interview talks about alternative Arabic music, commercial waves and the general media strategies in the Arab World and how they prefer to support morally deteriorating forms of so-called art on the expense of productive and creative forms of self expression.

God bless...

Freedom for the Arab... foot !

In the sixties, the Women's lib in the States led a rally, where feminists took off their bras and burnt them, as a sign of, well, "lib" (liberation). Today, some critics argue the act is a mere myth promoted by crazed feminists.

Whether myth or fact, I think those feminists should have taken off their shoes, instead!

In the Arab context, underwear in general is a big taboo, so to speak. I think Arab feminists can accommodate their cultures by organizing a strike, or a sit in, to protest the beauty industry's harsh foot conditions! There is no one single woman I know who hasn't been looking all her life for a shoe that doesn't cause blisters.

And I am not talking about stilettos, I am talking about good old ordinary shoes - that cost a fortune - but still give you a grumpy day.

One might argue organizing a protest against the shoe-making industry is a silly act in this time & age seeing that many nations around the world are hungry, homeless, and shoe-less. True, true... but no one thought the implications of throwing bras in the garbage was a pointless act. We think in metaphors, and shoes and fashion are a metaphor for the way society views women; as physical, external-beauty kinda folk.

According to About.com, "the symbolic act of tossing those clothes into the trash was meant as a serious critique of the modern beauty culture, of valuing women for their looks instead of their whole self. (Older feminists may remember that romantic line savvy men began to use, 'I love you for your mind?')." Hmmm, I think this line is still widely used, I heard it so many times myself, and many of my "independent" female friends reported having heard it on countless occasions. When you are a strong-looking, working woman who doesn't put tonnes of make up on, this seems to be the most plausible thing a man can say to win your heart over.

About.com goes on to say: "Going braless felt like a revolutionary act - being comfortable above meeting social expectations." That's why I believe it's about time those pseudo office shoes - that are recently being termed as "boyfriend" shoes - get a serious beating for the pains they put us through.

And as I-don't-know-who said, “funny that a pair of really nice shoes makes us feel good in our heads — at the extreme opposite end of our bodies.”

Another cool shoe quote is by some Greek philosopher: “It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe."

الفضاء التخيلي... مكان غريب

كنت أبحث عن مقال لي باللغة العربية منذ لحظات... ووجدت على "جووجل" اسمي على موقع مكتوب. تم إنشاء هذه الصفحة هناك ضمن موسيقيين آخرين من الأردن منذ عام تقريبا وكان الهدف أن يكون الموقع ديناميكيا... ولكن الفتاة التي أنشأت الصفحة لي استقالت فلم أعر الموضوع أي اهتمام بعد ذلك... إلا أنني قبل لحظات وجدت أن هناك 3 صفحات من التعليقات لمستخدمين آخرين من مكتوب يطلبون مني رد السلام مثلا، أو يعلقون على أمور لها علاقة بالموسيقى - ولا يخلى الأمر من أرقام الهواتف التي لا أفهم الهدف منها (وهي عادة تسمى عند أهل السعودية بـ "الترقيم"!!).

على كل حال... الغريب هو مسألة "الحضور" و "التواجد" على شبكة الانرنت. عندما يكون هناك أناس يكاتبونك ويخاطبونك بينما أنت لست على علم بذلك. أنت نفسك غير "موجود" هناك، لكن بالنسبة لهم أنت "موجود". أنت لا "تعلم" أنهم يخاطبونك ولكنهم يعتقدون بأنك تسمعهم.

من منظور صوفي/تصوفي، أعتقد بأن هذا إنما يدل على أن الحياة عبارة عن وهم وأن أداة الانترنت هي بمثابة تأكيد على ذلك. في مقالة أشير إليها في المدونة السابقة، نشر موقع البي بي سي الالكتروني منذ ايام قليلة خبرا عن مايكروسوفت تعلن فيه اختراع "غمامة" أو "غيمة" الكترونية بحيث يبدأ الناس بحفظ ملفاتهم وصورهم وكل ما يتعلق بحياتهم "التخيلية" في هذا الفضاء التخيلي الشاسع في تلك الغيمة وليس - كما هو معتاد - على أسطح المكتب في كمبيوتراتهم. البشرية تنتقل بسرعة نحو توطيد دعائم الوهم التخيلي... فحتى سطح المكتب (ديسك توب) لن يبقى له خاصية حفظ المواد وسيتم حفظ كل شيء في "الغيمة." طيب... ما الذي سيحصل للبشرية عندما تختفي هذه الغيمة؟ كل شيء آيل للاختفاء ولا يبقى إلى وجه ربك ذو الجلال والإكرام... ما الذي سيحصل للتواصل الإنساني عندما لا يعود هناك "غيمة" تخيلية تحمل تواصلنا كبشر؟


الناس تتواصل في هذا اللامكان وكأنها موجودة... وما أدرانا من هو حاضر ومن هو غائب... هذا يذكرني بنشيد صوفي من الطريقة الشاذلية اليشرطية العليّة يخاطب ذي الجلالة بقوله...

حاضر لا تغيب... الله الله

Old news travel fast...!

Skin magazine has been online for a while. Only today did I manage to find a 2007 interview the magazine's Farah Salti conducted with me sometime last year. In the afore-seen link one can find the abridged online version on Skin's interview, and here one can find the interview in PDF.



On a less self-centric note, rumor has it that the world is collapsing. A friend from the music industry sent me this article a few days ago. BBC ran this story on Oct 28 about Microsoft creating a "cloud" world where applications get stored online, saying "Microsoft has unveiled a cloud computing service, in which data and applications will not be stored on individuals' computers." The concept of desktop, that took my generation a while to grasp, is becoming obsolete. What will happen to the world once The Cloud goes *POOF*?



Third item on our menu today... stay tuned for an exclusive interview with world guitarist Jan Akkerman. I had the pleasure of singing with Jan in Amman in August as guest artist, now I am wearing my other hat, Media, and writing about him. For years I have been asked the same question over and over; "who is your idol?" My answer was always preceded by weird silence (since the word "idol" doesn't strike too many chords on my guitar) before mouthing, "Um Kalthoum." Today, I can safely say, I learned so much, on sooo many levels from Jan Akkerman. A true artist, a great man and musician. Dutch, famous, and full of energy, life, light and love, Akkerman gives the West a new dimension. His band, comprising down-to-earth musicians whose sense of humor is Arab-like, is a warm gathering of musicians who shall always be in my heart and mind. Wilbrand Meischke (bass guitar) remains my Rumi-kindered friend.



On its way to publication... an exclusive interview I recently conducted with Joi Ito, CEO of the Creative Commons, and one of "The 25 most influential people on the web" rated by BusinessWeek in its recent edition. Ito was in Jordan very recently for a Creative Commons function there. As a musician, I think the CC license, which is a copy-left trend, might be starting a liberation movement to free the world of art, music and creativity at large from the grip of corporate greed/capitalism. CC encourages the culture of sharing within a legal framework that gives credit to authors, songwriters, composers, photographers (etc) within a context of sharing, building together and free flow.



On a Sufi note... Forgiveness is a strange thing. It happens when you least expect it. I was at a regional press conference a few days ago and there I found a few people I have been holding grudges against. It was the biggest gathering of "people I hate" in my whole life. It was pretty funny, very amusing. Since there was an overload on my internal system, which crashed under the pressure of having to deal with so many people I truly disliked, this internal system found a loophole to get itself out of its jam; Forgiveness. With forgiveness no internal mechanisms need to be employed to dodge, evade, duck, flee... With Forgiveness people become new, no association or emotional history attached to them, and you walk down the corridors of the conference with absolute freedom. Hail Forgiveness!

Eftekasat & Ruba Saqr in Sufi Jazz Tour (MP3)

Sneak peak from Eftekasat & Ruba Saqr rehearsals in Cairo:

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

This song is a re-interpretation of a Sufi Nasheed (chant) from the Shazily Tariqa (Path). It was composed and written at least 300 years ago by Sufi Sheikh Ali Wafa ben Bahr Al Safa. He is one of the great figures in the Shazily Path and has written countless chants in the praise of Allah and the Love of Prophet Mohammad (Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam).
The Nasheed is inheritted generation to generation in Ruba Saqr's Sufi family, a long lineage of Sufi teachers from her mother's side. The Jazz vision and interpretation of this piece is by Eftekasat Jazz Band from Cairo, in collaboration with Ruba.
The recording is Live from a rehearsal studio in Cairo, captured on Tuesday 16 September, 2008. In this audio clip: Voice - Ruba Saqr. Keyboard - Amro Salah. Violin - Mohammad Medhat
Oud - Islam. Bass guitar - Samer George. Drums - Ahmed Hisham. Percussion - Hani Bedair

Sufi Jazz Tour... Jazz and Sufism coming together for one purpose: Love

There are two types of people on the path. Those who come
against their will, the blindly religious people, and those
who obey out of love. The former have ulterior motives.
They want the midwife near, because she gives them milk.
The others love the beauty of the nurse.

The former memorize the prooftexts of conformity,
and repeat them. The latter disappear
into whatever draws them to God.

Both are drawn from the source.
Any movings from the mover.
Any love from the beloved.

- from "I Come Before Dawn" by Jelaluddin Rumi

This Ramadan... in Egypt...

EFTEKASAT Jazz and World Music group (from Egypt) is featuring RUBA SAQR (from Jordan) as guest star in the band's SUFI JAZZ TOUR. Ruba will be performing her own originals blended by Eftekasat ORIGINAL and Unique sound.
The tour will also include Jazzy reinterpretations of underground Sufi Anasheed from the Shazily Tariqa, dating back to hundreds of years ago. Concerts will be at:

• Sawi Culture Wheel (Cairo) -Thursday 18 September 9:30 pm
• Beit Al-Harrawy (Cairo) - Thursday 25th September 9:00 pm
• Jesuits Culture Center (Alexandria) - Friday 26th September 9:00 pm

Jazz and Sufism come together for one purpose: Love.
Love is the heart & soul of Sufism. Music is the sound of soul.

Press coverage:
Al Ghad Newspaper. Wed 17, 9, 2008


Al Arab Newspaper (Qatar). Thursday 18 September, 2008

Beyond describing...

You're not garbage! Pearls want to be like you. You should be with them

where waves and fish and pearls and seaweed & wind
are all one. No linking, no hierarchy,
no distinctions, no perplexed wondering, no speech.
Beyond describing.

Either stay here and talk or go there and be silent.
Or do both, by turns.
With those who see double, talk double-talk.
Make noise, beat a drum, think metaphors!
With friends, say only mystery.
Near roses, sing.

With deceptive people, cover the jar, and shield it.
But be calm with those in duality.
Speak sweetly and reasonably.
Patience polishes and purifies.

From "Sheikh Kharrqani and his Wretched Wife" by Jelaluddin Rumi

Before wisdom comes doubt. One cannot understand people and reach a high station of wisdom & knowledge without experiencing all the things that make one wise at a later stage in life. These include a taste of pain, separation, divorce, breakups, depressions, trials, losses, deception, injury, breakdown. All of the things people don't like, basically. How would one identify deception, if one was never deceived? How would one be calm in the presence of those in duality, if one has never experienced it? Spiritual growth is about going through trials that teach the soul its biggest lessons. For doors to open, one needs to be Light. To be light, one needs to enter the hot furnace of experience - for there lies the purification of the highest quality of gold. Prophet Moses killed a man on his spiritual journey to prophet-hood. He fled his town afterwards in great fear. He then met a man who took care of rearing him spiritually, and opening him up to his spiritual truth. Each one of us has a Spiritual Truth, it is that nagging voice that makes us look for books to read, places to go, people to meet, where keys to our Spiritual Truth are entrusted. To identify doubt in people, one needs to walk that path first. Doubt usually likes to plague heart. It enters one's blood stream through one's weaknesses. Usually those revolve around one's unleashed desires, and below-view habits. Sufis say: "Miracles happen when one breaks habits." A habit is something that takes hold of someone's vision, behavior and thinking. Doubt enters from the door of habit. Certainty comes after one has weakened habit by daily Sufi meditation, Zikr. Certainty is the craving of every soul. One cannot fight the house of habit (Ego) by "thinking" of ways to beat it. The intellectual, alone, is always susceptible to the trickery of Ego. Practicing pure submission to Allah, daily, through daily Zikr... is what puts a leash on Ego. Put a leash on Ego, and then you can become a master of habit, not the other way around. You beat habit by Allah's Will, not your own. Just call out His Name everyday, and the secret doors will open up, one after another.

Allah, Allah, Allah,
Allah, Allah, Allah,
Allah, Allah, Allah,
Allah, Allah, Allah...

For 2 minutes every day, then 5 minutes, then 10 minutes... stretch it to half an hour, then an hour, until it becomes your bloodstream, until you drown in it, until your thoughts are dotted with it, until it becomes the backdrop of all your other thinking processes, until you sleep within it, until you wake up with it... until it becomes your everything. Then look back at your life. You were in a maze, tangled up in some illusion, veils upon veils shielding your vision... but now you can "see."

There's Nothing Ahead...

Lovers think they are looking for each other,
but there is only one search: wandering
this world is wandering that, both inside one
transparent sky. In here
there is no dogma and no heresy.

The miracle of Jesus is himself, not what he said or did
about the future, Forget the future.
I'd worship someone who could do that.
On the way you may want to look back, or not,
but if you can say "There's nothing ahead",
there will be nothing there.
Stretch your arms and take hold the cloth of your clothes
with both hands. The cure for pain is in the pain.
Good and bad are mixed. If you don't have both,
you don't belong with us.
When one of us gets lost, is not here, he must be inside us.
There's no place like that anywhere in the world.

- From 'The Essential Rumi" Coleman Barks with John Moyne

Amen! The cure for pain is in the pain. The way pain forms... it's mind boggling. How does it start, where from does it come, from which void? We are riddles waiting to be solved. Ethics, self, soul and mind, how do they interact? When I say "I", what do I refer to? My ego? My thoughts? My contradictions? My journey in life? My moral base? My present moment? My past, my future? Forget the future. Why do we walk away from someone and feel Pain? It doesn't make sense, does it? Sometimes I feel we feel other people's pain, if we care enough to listen to their inner voice. In the Holy Space, one brings her/his pain into the Inner Mosque and enter a place of true healing. No matter what the reasons are, no matter whose pain it is, no matter what the "I" stands for, and if there is an "I" in the first place... there is a Holy Place for healing.
"When one of us gets lost, is not here, he must be inside us.
There's no place like that anywhere in the world."
Amen to that! What does Rumi mean by "inside us"? It seems only a Sufi would know that, from experience I guess. During his lifetime, after a certain age, Rumi inherited the secrets of Sufism. He was the center of the Universe's Sufi secrets, and by that deserved the highest station of that time and age. In every age, there is someone like Rumi who happens to be the nuclei of his era. All planets revolve around him, and in his hands there are secrets upon secrets that unravel riddles as puzzling as the birth of pain, and the healing of a lifetime's tragedy. This nuclei, as Sufi literature suggests, distributes secrets upon people from every race - depending on their inner purity - so you find "gifted" individuals around the world who can conquer hearts and heal them with their simple speech. There are all levels of spiritual enlightenment depending on a person's inner readiness and purity. The less Mass (baggage), the more spiritual vision. The less attachments to hate, jealousy, status, money, etc, the more qualified for those secrets to pour into the Heart. Sufi tradition also suggests that one can be one's enemy, especially when one doesn't know himself well. To know thyself is to know thy God. To know thyself is to unravel its intricacies, one after the other; to understand your inclinations and where they come from (not from the stand point of modern psychology but rather from the stand point of Truth. Psychology is based on theories and hypothesis; Truth is Truth). All this modern garbage about healing pain by "talking about it", or by gulping in medicine, is a far scream from the Truth. Human presence is folds upon folds of complexities, summing it up by some Freudian theory (or any theory that came after it revoking or affirming it), is also a far scream from the Truth. Divine Truth reigns supreme. Truth is what we cannot see for ourselves if we are busy chasing the world. It is revealed to a heart that is willing to see beyond what we were conditioned to see. Always keep an open mind and tell yourself: "One day I will have a set of eyes that are trained to see the Truth, until then I shall know that what my eyes see is what I have been trained to see." We "see" through our paradigms. Paradigms are often influenced by some pop Freudian jargon, and a handful of modern-day theories about love, life and happiness - often coined by the media. Sometimes we take ourselves on spiritual journeys to the far east to seek the Truth, we might find what silences our pain and puts us inside a bubble of calm, as Yoga might do, but we still would be seas and oceans away from unraveling our very Truth. Practice that doesn't show my inner eye the Truth of who I am really, is practice made for the sake of adding a layer of illusion to a host of existing illusions. The illusion of happiness. The illusion of calm. The illusion of loving other people. What good is practicing anything when my inner self is still a riddle to me? What good is a certain posture or ritual if it makes me feel in charge, when obviously I am not! Truth has nothing to do with this big charade of opinions, theories, thoughts and attitudes. "In here there is no dogma and no heresy." In here, there is only Truth.

Opposit of love...

Bismillah

It's a habit of yours to walk slowly.
You hold a grudge for years.
With such heaviness, how can you be modest?
With such attachments, do you expect to arrive anywhere?

Be wide as the air to learn a secret.
Right now you're equal portions clay
and water, thick mud.
Abraham learned how the sun and moon and the stars all set.
He said, No longer will I try to assign partners for God.

You are so weak. Give up to grace.
The ocean takes care of each wave
till it gets to shore.
You need more help than you know.
You're trying to live your life in open scaffolding.
Say Bismillah, In the name of God
as the priest does with a knife when he offers an animal.

Bismillah your old self
To find your real name.

~ Jelaluddin Rumi

Someone told me today the opposite of love wasn't hate. Indifference was the opposite of Love, as he saw it. I was shocked with the insight. Although it was something you could easily read in The Prophet by Gibran, but it came from a place of Heart, not a place of memory. Insights genuine and sincere, that can put out the fire blazing in your presence, come to rescue your thirst. That is real communication; words that quench your thirst. Sometimes you feel like someone opened the flood gates of your Heart. How did this happen, you ask? Ah, by the power of Divine Love. You think you are alone, no one knows your hidden thirsts and spiritual hungers. But in some level of existence every cell of yours is known. And to The One, your every bit of existence is known beyond normal knowing. There is Love that transcends normal loving. It comes from a Divine well, vast, endless, border-less, the opposite of which is not hate. He told me that today. People who have this ability; to open up hearts by simple words, are gifted. May God bless them all, especially when they tell you "if you will." We write in code; they open our heart in code. This is Spiritual experience; building rapport. When there is spiritual rapport, messages cross oceans easily. When there is Sufi rapport, images travel at the speed of Light, experiences intensify as their significances are captured. I write so no one day will I ever meet you with the opposite of Love. When someone has the keys to your Heart, you give them your Heart. It's a classic truth.

I hurried here to tell you...

Inside the Ka'aba it doesn't matter which direction
you point your prayer rug!

The ocean diver doesn't need snowshoes!
The Love-Religion has no code or doctrine.
Only God.

So the ruby has nothing engraved on it!
It doesn't need markings.

- From Moses and the Shepherd
By Sufi poet Jelaluddin Rumi (Persia, 1207-1273)

It feels rather weird to meet people and see through their souls in one conversation. Sometimes you have dinner with someone and the conversation instantly turns into a ritual of taking off the robes & veils. You both sit opposite each other and gently help each other out of layers of veils that shield your true essence. The conversation takes all kinds of shapes and forms to help you out of your heavy black robes. Sometimes teasing is involved, seduction, interrogation, humor. When a lot of love is involved, it is easy to give up veil after another. Sometimes the conversation hits a sticky fold in your veil; tearing could happen if one persists with the act of merciful pulling. A pause... and that knot is transcended easily.
It takes a knowing soul to undress another.
It takes a lot of love to sway another.
It takes a lifetime of growing to feel another.
And it takes an expert hand to unveil a soul.
Love is a great power. It moves mountains. Veils, robes, walls, cloth and Harems are an easy task for a kind, loving soul. A loving heart can tear down ancient walls with a simple question, a smile and a teasing comment. That's all it takes to be free from your own cell... a lot of love.

Since Sufi self sleeps not... spin out of orbit!

My heart has become capable of all forms:
A pasture for gazelles, a monastery for monks,
A temple for idols, the Kabah of the pilgrims,
The tablets of Torah, the Book of Quran.
I profess the religion of Love.
Whatever direction love’s camels take,
That is my religion and my faith.

— Ibn Arabi, Tarjuman al-ashwaq

It is refusing to sleep. Self, that is. It wants to stay up and watch the day crack open from the pod of night. Self longs for something. It does not know what that might be. Self just read a post about Solitude. It wants to share with someone thoughts and visions and hearts and worlds about solitude (which is exactly what solitude is not... sharing with a mortal). Who said one is alone in Solitude?

If you are a friend of God, fire is your water...

With which tongue do you speak every day, when your true tongue speaks not? Don't you feel deceived when ears hear "you" not? If soul speaks not to soul and all what people hear in each other is image, then what is communication? What is communication if it stays on the surface of the surface of surface? When it touches not your core. What are presentation skills for if they speak to a fraction of your audience's "being" from a fraction of yours? What is "image" when it represents not your heart, soul, mind and whole? Who set those rules for the Universe? Once upon a time a man used to be judged by his labor, a woman by her silence... for silence reveals her inner beauty. Today, we paint masks and call it science. Sufi self speaks not. Sufi self sleeps not. Sufi self sees solitude in sunrise. Sufi self spins out of orbit... their orbit, the familiar orbit. Spin out of the orbit of life... spin, spin, spin like a dervish. Spin out of orbit, leave everything behind, stop seeing what you left behind. See the metaphor in spinning and be a dervish in every way. Let your cells spin out of hunger's orbit, out of sleep's orbit, out of daily life. Spin out of a planet that orbits the wrong kind of Sun. Find your true Sun within, hold that soul, and spin out of orbit.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

(وَمِنْ آَيَاتِهِ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ لا تَسْجُدُوا لِلشَّمْسِ وَلا لِلْقَمَرِ وَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُنَّ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ)
فصلت:37

Bism Allah Al Rahman Al Raheem
(In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, The Most Compassionate)

“And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate to Allâh Who created them, if you (really) worship Him.” (Holy Quran, Fussilat 41:37)

World guitarist Jan Akkerman from Holland, featuring Jordanian singer-songwriter Ruba Saqr - next Wednesday

...........................................
Press and Media Coverage:

From the media: Reminiscing 2007...

Layalina Magazine (Jordan, Nov 2007).



Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper (World Circulation, No. 2007). Royal Wings Magazine (Royal Jordanian's in flight magazine, Sept. 2007).

Media & Music... when opposites mingle!

I have been filling out applications lately with interesting questions like: What are the challenges you face in your context in the 21st century?
My context is media & music... I write columns, features and reports about alternative Arabic music for newspapers, magazines (etc), scripts for films, and copy for advertisers and PR firms... and I write songs and perform them...
There is a very clear difference between media and music for me.
When one writes for media, one is using her head and intellect, which includes many things like structure of the article; a catchy lead paragraph with all 5 W's (if it's a report), a dash of color here and there, an interesting way of putting words together, an insight. Writing for media is pretty much calculated; if one has spent time in the PR world, then one is to use all available knowledge about "target audiences" and their preferences, "key messages," and ways to draw in interest by drafting well tempered arguments using subtle messages in places when being too forward might ruin it for you.
But in music, "Soul" is the master of all... No target audience in view, no calculated moves, no structure, nothing... you sit there with your muse and close the door on the world... and create your song. It comes straight from the heart, it aspires not to convince or impress, it tells not what the world needs/wants/likes to hear... there are no assumptions, no baseline research, no expected outcome, no people, no "other," no prison... when one writes music one expresses Soul, voice comes from within and tells a story, a story that comes from a mystical place... a place of turmoil, a place of very personal hurt, very personal agony, very personal longing... a place one seldom shares with the world, its alphabets still not carved in stone...
Heart & mind are two different worlds. Jumping between the two is extremely interesting; reaching an equilibrium between both worlds is a challenge. Who doesn't love one!
In Sufism, one is trained to look within to find answers. One becomes One with oneself in the creative process. One stops being scattered all over the place between people, commitments and thoughts. The baggage one carries everywhere one goes becomes smaller and lighter with time, because Sufism is about cleansing; self cleansing, heart cleansing... so Soul can prevail.
There is no "target audience" in Sufism, no audience one tries to dupe. There is emphasis on honesty, integrity, heart, compassion, love and humility. One pillar in the Sufi path is about a request by any Sufi so God would make him/her great in the eyes of others, small in his/her eyes. Ego is the father of all evil in Sufism, it is the reason Satan lost his spiritual station.

Short documentary on Al Jazeera TV about Ruba Saqr's music

Ruba Saqr in "3 Women Only" concert with Zuleikha AbuRisha & Zeina Azouqa

“3 Women Only” is a concert that brings together 3 artists from 3 different age groups, 3 different life philosophies and 3 different artistic visions.

Singer-songwriter Ruba Saqr is hosting the wise & the young in an event that explores dimensions of the human soul & sound. With Arab-acclaimed poetess Zuleikha AbuRisha and young and talented composer & pianist Zeina Azouqa, the 3 women are planning to weave a unique and soulful evening that celebrates the innate feminine power and ability to create beyond many set boundaries.
Under a clear Amman summer sky, “3 Women Only” is an acoustic night that blends in different sound experiences; the sound of vocal singing with the sound or poetry recitation and piano… all in an attempt to stretch each sound beyond its usual limitations.

Alternative Sufi music, spontaneous piano and poetic expressions will all bring calm and serenity to one of Amman’s open spaces, Al Hussein Park’s amphitheater, on July 30, 2008 @ 8:30pm… as part of Amman Summer Festival 2008.

"ثلاث نساء فقط" هي تجربة موسيقية تجمع ما بين ثلاث نساء من ثلاثة أعمار مختلفة وثلاث فلسلفات وجودية وتجارب فنية مختلفة.

تستضيف المغنية ومؤلفة الأغنية ربى صقر الحكمة والشباب في أمسية موسيقية تسبر أعماق الروح البشرية من خلال مزيج صوتي مختلف... ومن خلال العمل مع الشاعرة العربية الكبيرة زليخة أبوريشة والمؤلفة الموسيقية وعازفة البيانو الموهوبة زينة أزوقة، تتطلع "ثلاث نساء فقط" لنسج خيوط من الروح احتفالا بالطاقة الأنثوية القادرة على الخلق والإبداع وكسر الحدود المفروضة على أشكال الإبداع النمطية.

"ثلاث نساء فقط" ليلة استماع إلى مزيج مختلف لتجارب صوتية متعددة... تجمع ما بين الصوت البشري الغنائي الممتزج مع صوت الشعر وأحاسيس يصرح بها البيانو... كل هذا من خلال عمل فني يخرج بهذه الفنون من أطرها المعهودة ويضعها في قالب ارتجالي مزجي جديد.

منذ أيام قليلة أطلقت الشاعرة زليخة أبوريشة ألبومين شعريين جديدين بعنوان "جوى" و "في ثناء الجميل" وقامت مع ربى صقر بتأدية ثنائي شعري-غنائي معها أمام جمهور واسع من المهتمين في بيت تايكي التابع لأمانة عمان يوم السبت 19-7-2008. هذه التجربة سيتم الإستفادة منها في مشروع "ثلاث نساء فقط" والذي سيضم تنويعات موسيقية للمؤلفة وعازفة البيانو زينة أزوقة في 30-7-2008

هذا العرض من آهات صوفية تجريبية ومختلفة مع ارتجالات لحنية على آلة البيانو وتوظيفات خاصة للتعبير ستحول سماء "صيف عمان" إلى ليلة من هدوء وسكينة في إحدى صروح عمان والمتمثلة بالمسرح الدائري في حدائق الحسين... وذلك يوم الأربعاء 30-7-2008، الساعة الثامنة والنصف... ضمن احتفالية صيف عمان 2008.

Zuleikha AbuRisha is a prominent Jordanian poetess whose works have been celebrated in many conventions around the world. On July 19, AbuRisha released two new poetry collections titled: "Jawa" & "Fee Thana2 el Jameel." She is the daughter of a Sufi sheikh, she's also a well known feminist, activist, writer and columnist. Her daughter, Ruba Saqr, has joined her many times in poetry-singing duos. Both mother and daughter have explored new sound dimensions that have received excellent reviews in Jordan and Algeria since they have started their sound experiments.

Ruba Saqr is a fusionist in love with experimenting with different sounds that reflect different states of mind, cultures and contexts. She came up with the concept of "3 Women Only" after having dealt with Zuleikha & Zeina on seperate projects that reflect a love for adventure and experimentation. With Zuleikha (who happens to be Ruba's mom), Ruba sang along the poetic expressions of the poetess on July 19 and earlier in Amman & Algeria, adding sound to sound and experimenting with vocal expression along with poetic one.
In 2006, Ruba & Zeina played side to side as part of project Kun-Fusion, a Makan/French Cultural Center project based on bringing in musicians fro9m different disciplines to jam and improvise their way up to a Fete de La Musique concert that took place in June 2006

Zeina Azouqa is a 26-year-old audio-visual communicator of diverse skills, but when it comes to her music, she defines herself as a composer first, and a pianist second.
She started her musical studies in classical music but upon reaching university level, she had branched out to other styles that she found more expressive of her ideas and attitudes. Although her music is based on structure and form, improvisation plays an integral part, and she often encourages performers of her written pieces to interpret the music their own way, expanding upon her ideas where possible.
Her projects in Jordan have included composing for Voices of the Levant, playing keyboards with Kun.fusion and writing children's educational songs.

--------------------

Press coverage and curtain raisers:

ثلاث نساء فقط" وليلة سكينة وتأمل في حدائق الحسين"

Al Arab Al Yawm (2-8-2008, Jordan)

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أغان تراثية وطنية وتجارب صوفية وجودية تزين "صيف عمان" - جريدة الغد

Al Ghad Newspaper (1-8-2008, Jordan)

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Al Arab Newspaper (28-7-2008, Qatar)

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Al Rai Newspaper (27-7-2008, Jordan)

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Al Ghad Newspaper (28-7-2008, Jordan)

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Al Rai Newspaper (30-7-2008, Jordan)

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Ad Dustour Newspaper (30-7-2008, Jordan)

Jordanian musicians will soon be able to CopyLeft instead of CopyRight their music ...

v.s

I met Eileen & Ben in Amman at Makan (House of Expression), a month or so ago. They were doing some interesting research about music and film in Jordan, to be specuific the type that no longer fell under the Copyrights law (which stipulates musical works of a Jordanian artist in my country can only be mixed, re-used, or re-interpreted by another after a period of 50 years from time of his/her... well... death). In the UK, where Eileen & Ben come from, its 70 years!

The hypothesis the two artists defend is basically "Music wants to be free."

I wrote the article below (in Arabic), and it was published in UK-based Al Hayat newspaper today - Friday… I so enjoyed writing the article, and it was a challenge to encapsulate all the information I have in a 700-800 word feature. I kept on thinking of the right angle (or maybe it is the Left angle I was looking for in this context), what would a Jordanian or Arab musician want to know, what was so interesting about a license, how could musicians of the same spirit Eileen and Ben enjoyed benefit from their website & project.

I started by defining the key words to build the article around, and found out they were:

• Copyleft v.s. Copyright
  
• Anti- capitalism, anti-globalization
• Private sector-capitalist agendas v.s freedom, creativity, sharing
• corpporate art v.s. free forms of art
• stifled music v.s free music
  

Then I found what every editor looks for in a feature, fresh angle & newsworthiness, in the fact the Creative Commons license is in the process of developing a legal structure for Jordan, and what that means in general terms. I didn't really delve into legal terminology… but I kinda laid down the rough differences between "Copyright" and "Copyleft," quoting Ben, in the meeting he organized with Eileen for artists and musicians in Amman a while back. The quote I used was: "Normally Copyright says 'this is my work, and you can't use it for whatever project you want… Copyleft says 'This is my work, and you can use it for whatever project you want."

I didn't leave it at that and explained that Creative Commons does have several licensing types, some allowing others to re-use one's work, others requiring the permission of the artist.

I also spoke a little about the philosophy of Ben & Eileen's website (www.openmusicarchive.org), and how they encouraged using outdated music (copyright speaking) on their website, granted one did not go and copyRIGHT them, so as to keep the flow of music and ideas going. The article below also mentions how they encouraged giving credit to the source of your musical remix, so as to share music in an healthy manner.

A quote I so wanted to use, but couldn't for I had a restriction on word count, was something Eileen & Ben said at the event here in Amman:

"In order for ideas to work, they need to be shared."

It would sound like idealism for som: how can I make money if I don't copyRight the normal way? I asked that question (having resorted to copyrighting to safeguard my music). Well, they say you can produce a commercial CD and sell it, but still give leeway to other musicians to re-use your music and credit you for it… electronic musicians perhaps, or experimental sound artists, or maybe multi-media artists who would like to feel free to use a collage of artwork from here and there without worrying about being sued for it... would most certainly welcome this approach.

The cool thing I personally see in this whole argument is in its spirit, I haven't tried it and not really too knowledgeable about the pros and cons of copyLefting, but it feels at home to say Music is Free, and it resonates deeply to say Music is Not a Business in Spirit, but a form of self expression, shaping identity, exchanging thoughts, building societies (or destroying them)… it's not a soul-less business made to entertain soulless audiences concerned with consumerism and money. Music cannot be boxed, nor evaluated in Wall Street terms, it's all over, it's boundless, therefore the method with which to preserve one's rights and credit should come from a similar frame of mind, not from a business-oriented frame of mind.

Maybe this other frame of mind has its critics; CopyLefting, might still need to observe how we do things in the Arab world – borrowing without being the least concerned to ask for permission (just kidding)… What I am trying to say is, I can see an opportunity for Arab musicians to study CopyLefting and develop a parallel Arab CopyLefting stream that resonates with Arab cultures and contexts, seeing our social-cultural frameworks are different from those in the West; Arabs quote a lot, and without saying who they quoted, everyone knows who the original speaker/musician was, especially if known from Maghreb to Mashreq. Quoting is an essential in Arab culture, it's a form of cultural communication... also in Bedioun contexts quotes are used to deliver a message by envoking the context from which the quote came from. Musicians quote from Arab oldies and no one is complaining... I don't know if Rotana is bothered, but I am sure CopyLefting might help them with their recent drop in prices down to 30% of original CD prices because of piracy (actual piracy, and not musical plagiarism). I'm not sure I know what CopyLeft's take is on this one... where do you draw the line... or maybe there is no such thing as musical plagiarism in CopyLeft World?!!

Anyhow... CopyLefting can be useful seeing we have a vibrant folk music scene that has been used to the benefit of pop musicians in Arabia, ones who did copyRight their re-uses of what is publicly owned and claim ownership of it…. Also seeing that folk music has no author, and suddenly there is a modern day composer who borrowed from what was folk and put his name on it without telling us where the inspiration came from… where do you draw the line between "old" folk and "modern" remakes… Ok, I guess I made my point and strating to drift away into my own thing here.

The article below is titled:

Waging a battle against existing Intellectual Property Rights, two British [musicians] announce in Jordan the "Open Music Archive" project

يخوضان معركة ضد القوانين السائدة لـ "حقوق الملكية الفكرية"... بريطانيان يعلنان في الأردن مشروع "أرشيف الموسيقى المفتوح" 0

عمّان - ربى صقر الحياة - 04/07/08

حقوق الملكية الفكرية موضوع له وجوه عدّة، منها حفظ حقوق المؤلف وأعماله من القرصنة أو الاستغلال التجاري الذي قد يعود على غيره بالنفع، بينما هو (أو هي) محروم من نصيبه من العوائد المالية بسبب تعدي جهة ما على حقوقه...

وجهة النظر هذه منتشرة في الأردن حيث شنّت حملات توعية كثيرة من أجل تحقيق حلم الملكية الفكرية هذا، خلال السنوات القليلة الماضية. أما بالنسبة لمناهضي العولمة والرأسمالية، فإن قوانين الملكية الفكرية المتبعة عالمياً (والتي يقوم العالم العربي بنسخها من دون اكتراث للخصوصية الثقافية لبلدانه ) فهي وجه آخر لعملية خنق الإبداع وتحويله من لغة الخلق والتكوين والعطاء إلى لغة المال والأعمال والاقتصاد.

حقوق التأليف الموسيقي أمر شائك وحديث العهد أردنياً. فهناك من أعادوا صوغ موسيقى لموسيقيين آخرين من المنطقة العربية والأردن، من دون إذنهم وقاموا بنشرها في ألبومات موسيقية، وما زالوا عرضة للمساءلة متى ما توجهت الأنظار إلى موضوع الحقوق الموسيقية. والأنظار الآن منصبة على العلامات التجارية وعلى قرصنة الأفلام الهوليودية أكثر من غيرها. وما زالت الموسيقى في أسفل سلّم الأولويات. ربما سيعجب هؤلاء نمط منشق عن حفظ الحقوق المعتاد ، إذ أُتيح الآن نمط مختلف لحفظ الحقوق يطلق عليه تعبير
«copyrights»
يشجع دعاته الموسيقيين على اختلاف جنسياتهم مشاركتهم في حركة يسار موسيقية، تناهض الرأسمالية وتمجد الحرية والإبداع الحر
.0«copylefts»

الجماعات المناهضة لمعسكر حقوق الملكية الفكرية موجودة في الغرب، منذ بزوغ فجر التحكم بحقوق التأليف وسن القوانين المناسبة لها. فهناك كتاب ومفكرون وأكاديميون كثر وجماعات أخذت على عاتقها عقد لقاءات وتنظيم فعاليات، الهدف منها الإطاحة بالأسلوب الرأسمالي (حسب اعتقادهم) في التعــاطي مع مسائل حقوق النشر والتوزيع والتأليــف والعلامات التجارية، وغيرها من أشكال السيطرة الاقتصادية.

أرشيف الموسيقى المفتوح

لم تنتظر هذه الجماعات دعوة رسمية للقدوم إلى عمّان، منذ فترة قريبة، لتنشر ما في جعبتها من حلول جديدة وأفكارٍ مختلفة في شأن الحقوق الفكرية الموسيقية. قد يشكل هذا الفكر طوق نجاة للموسيقيين المستقلين والبديلين والإلكترونيين من أصحاب التوجهات الإبداعية الحرة أو التجريبية، المبتعدة في روحها عن المتاجرة بالفن، ممّن يعزفون موسيقاهم في زوايا مختبئة عن الفضائيات العربية في عمّان والمنطقة العربية.

أيلين سمبسون وبن وايت موسيقيان بريطانيان جاءا ليبحثا عن طرق جديدة لتحرير الموسيقى من قبضة شركات الانتاج التجارية في العالم من خلال مشروعهما أو أرشيف الموسيقى المفتوح
.«Open Music Archive»

أثناء وجودهما في عمّان بدا لهما أن الحرب على القرصنة هي حرب أحادية الجانب في الدول التي وقعت معاهدات دولية مثل اتفاقية التجارة الحرة مع أميركا أو اتفاقية منظمة التجارة العالمية
(WTO)
ومن بينها الأردن. فقد كانت معظم الأخبار والتحقيقات الصحفية التي اعتنت بنشر هذا الفكر، منصبّة حول موضوع حفظ حقوق القطاع الخاص أكثر من أي شيء آخر. لكن لم يبدُ على أيلين وبن اكتراثهما كثيراً بالحقوق الاقتصادية للشركات الباحثة عن الربح، وانصب همّهما بدلاً من ذلك على حق الموسيقي في التأليف والاستعارة الموسيقية من موسيقيين انتقلوا إلى دار البقاء أو هم معاصرون له، من دون اعتباره لصاً موسيقياً.

يقول بن متّفقاً مع إيلين: «الموسيقى ترغب بأن تكون حرة...»، ويشير الى أن «الشركات التجارية الكبرى تستخدم قوانين الحماية الفكرية من أجل إغلاق الباب على الموسيقى، إذ يصعب على الموسيقيين استخدام تأليفات غيرهم أو استخدام مقتطفات منها، أو حتى استخدام كلمات لأغان أو لإيقاعات في مؤلفاتهم الجديدة. هذا النوع من الملكية والسيطرة يحدّ من حريتنا ويعيق إبداعنا».

وبحسب قوانين التأليف في الأردن، يحق للمموسيقيين إعادة استخدام وتقديم موسيقى لزميل لهم بعد رحيله بخمسين سنة، بينما في بريطانيا يحق للموسيقيين استغلال موسيقى أسلافهم بعد الوفاة بسبعين سنة. من أجل هذا يقترح بن وإيلين على موسيقيي المنطقة الانضمام إليهم وتسجيل أعمالهم الموسيقية في شكل يسمح لهم بالمحافظة على حقوقهم المعنوية كمؤلفين، وأيضاً على حقوقهم المالية. ولكن بقالب فكري جديد، سيكون برأيهما، أكثر فاعلية في التعاطي مع خصوصية المنطقة العربية حيث تكثر الاستعارات الموسيقية وإعادة الإنتاج التأليفي لموسيقيين آخرين، وذلك من خلال تبني مفهوم الـ
«copylefts»

الفرق بين الـ
«copyrights» والـ «copylefts»
حسب تعبير بن، هو أن النوع الأول يقول: «هذا عملي ولا يمكنك استخدامه من دون أخذ إذني»، أما النوع الثاني يقول: «هذا عملي ولكنك تستطيع أن تستخدمه لأي مشروع تريده... على شرط أن تشير إلى أنه عملي أو إلى اقتباسك منه».

وحتى لا تضيع الجهود في ما يخصّ التأليـف الموسيقي الذي لا يوجد فيه اقتباسات واضحة من أعمال سابقة يشجع موقع بن وأيلين الألكتروني
www.openmusicarchive.org
تسجيل الأعمال الموسيقية ضمن رخصة
Creative Commons
والتي تعمل حالياً على تطوير عقد قانوني لتسجيل المواد الموسيقية من الأردن، وذلك بالتنسيق مع شركة طلال أبو غزالة المسؤولة أردنياً عن قضايا حقوق الملكية الفكرية، حسب الموقع. وتختلف هذه الرخصة عن رخص حقوق الملكية الفكرية التقليدية، بأنها تفتح مجالات كثيرة للموسيقيين لحفظ أعمالهم أو جعلها مشاعاً يمكن استخدامه أو حتى منع الآخرين من استخدامها إلا بإذن يسمح لهم بذلك.

ومن أجل أن يخلق هذان الموسيقيان مساحات للإبداع الموســــيقي والاقتباس، قاما منذ ســـنتين بتـــطوير أرشيفهم الموسيقي على الانترنت، كي يجد فيه الموسيقيون الجدد مواد موسيقية غربية من عالم البلوز والجاز وغيرها رُفع الحظر القانوني عنها بعد أن مضى على وفاة أصحابها سبـــعين عاماً وبهذا أصبحت هذه المواد ملكاً عاماً ومشاعاً يمكن لأي شخص اقتباسها لموسيقاه الالكترونية مثلاً أو لاستخدام الكلمات أو الألحان في عمل جديد، شرط احترام أسس المشاركة الموسيقية وعدم حصر العمل الجديد في رخصة ملكية فكرية «يمينية».0


في الصورة: الموسيقيان ايلين وبن يقدمان عرضا لمفهوم التسجيل الموسيقي
«Copylefts»
في مركز «مكان - بيت التعبير»
0

Photo Caption: Eileen & Ben present the Copyleft concept at Makan - House of Expression

Min wa ila - a New magazine for new thought, art & music..

Hungry for a publication that divorces itself from the corporate world, and presents thought and art with a leftist flare? 'Min wa Ila' is here in its 5th issue, with writers and editors spanning the Arab World. I just skimmed through it; really interesting topics. As a musician, the Jazz Festival article got my attention. The magazine will be distributed for free in cultural centers around the region, and posts online. I'm going to be wriiting there, starting next issue, about alternative music, musical challanges and the stuff I have been writing about for the past 2 years... with a higher ceiling of expression and less content control (a dream come true for any writer really). The magazine is in Arabic, great photography for those who don't read Arabic.

من وإلى ... مجلة قررت أن ترفع سقف حرية التعبير... التعبير بأشكاله وبالأخص التعبير الفني والثقافي والموسيقي. من خلال النقر على الصورة التي تحمل شعار المجلة بالإمكان الإطلاع على العدد الخامس منها... وهو في الحقيقة العدد الأول بعد توقف المجلة عن الصدور لبضعة أشهر، حسب قول طارق حمدان، المحرر في المجلة وصاحب البرنامج الإذاعي الثقافي بروح جديدة على أمواج وطن إف إم في الأردن - من الألف إلى الياء.0

المواضيع تثير الشهية والصور كلها توابل والتصميم يحمسك على القراءة... آه صحيح... سيتم توزيعها في مختلف المراكزالثقافية في عدة بلدان عربية مجانا... 0

تصدر المجلة من فلسطين، حسبما فهمت من المطبوعة، ويبدو أن وراءها عدد من الشابات والشباب ممكن كسروا تابوهات كثيرة وممن لهم تجاربهم الفنية الخاصة... ياللا ممتاز، مطبوعة تناهض ما يبثه الأعلام الترفيهي من تفاهات في هذا الزمن المسكين... 0

أنتما (أي أنتِ وأنتَ) مسؤولان عما تسمعه آذانكما.0
أنتما مسؤولان عما تقرأه حواسكما.0
أنتما مسؤولان عن كل صورة تراها عيونكما.0

كلنا مسؤول عن أذواقنا الفنية وكلنا مسؤول عن كل فيديو كليب هابط على قنوات التلفزة، وكلنا شهيد على ما نعمل ... لذلك إنه قرار شخصي ... إما أن نكون جزءا من نهضة ترفعنا وإما أن نكون عضوا فاعلا في أزمة إنسانية وثقافية وعقلية يعيشها وطننا العربي الرحب. 0

Branding Jordan, musicially: Political agendas with a civilized dress!

I went with my friends to Zade Dirani's concert on Thursday, and promised Al Hayat newspaper to write them an article about the event - which received much attention and a lot of PR and advert power. Zade is known to receive Royal attention, or so it is said. The concert's PR campaign was a bit too forward in stating things, such as: 'Committed to the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah II. Zade will carry Jordan's message of peace and tolerance to the world.'

I do not know who was behind this choice of words. Music is subtle energy that plays on so many levels of existence; I find it quite paradoxical that music is presented in a language that sounds like everything a formal, apple-polishing, newspaper would do. If the King's vision is modernity, youth-driven initiatives and open-mindedness, then this kind of langauge is only a reaffirmation of backward thinking, which many like to call 'old guard' state of mind. One doesn't treat music that way; peace and tolerance are such complex and subtle quests that take great music with great vision to spread it around. Stating the intentions in this extremely forward, extremely haughty manner is bad PR, PR that lacks vision, in my humble opinion. Who does Zade's copywriting? Wait, I was told their was an advertising company that took care of it here, is it their copy or whose exactly?

Anyhow, the music itself was a bit confusing. The music arrangement did not warrant 75 musicians on stage. It sounded like too little work was put into creating a good use for all the instruments on stage, and a lot of effort was drilled into bombastic presentation, extremely shallow remarks in-between the musical pieces, and a very poor attempt to give Jordan's political stance a musical dimension... that I believe Tarek El Nasser's Rum Band would have fulfilled, being my choice for a national ambassador of Jordan. Actually, I can name a few other musicians, come to think of it. Emmm... on second thought, why would we need an 'official' music ambassador in the first place? Isn't music a healthy and free form of pluralism, self-expression and creativity. How can creativity be free if it is labeled and politicized to fulfill someone else's vision... where is the musician's vision?

Anyhow, as a musician I am well aware of what I am doing here, this is the first time in my life to lash out this way. I am talking here as a columnist, an x-PR director, and a copywriter... the problem with our media is they take ready made press releases and rehash them - if they bother to lose the few minutes to do so - then paste them into newspapers and magazines that don't even bother 'listen' or think.

When Jordan self brands, where are our opinion writers to critique it... isn't this supposed to be a pluralistic exercise? What is the media doing, sitting their rehashing press releases… where are the chief editors and editors who are supposed to be in charge of the engine that creates opinions, trends, a country's identity and the way it sees itself??? When their reporters come back with a flyer that says a 25-year old musician is committed to a King's vision, don't they scratch their heads and think… 'hey you… what does that mean?' I worked in several newspapers and magazines... two publications only care enough to ask questions and investigate, The Jordan Times and JO magazine... (in general terms, not talking about this specific case).

Branding is this era's most used word. Branding a musician to carry the message of peace and tolerance to the world is an extremely interesting case: Taking music to places that I never saw before. I know Um Kalthoum sang a song for Egypt, in response to a request by Abdul Nasser (someone told me this story, not sure how true or accurate it is), but she never branded herself as the carrier of the vision of Abdul Nasser. There is a certain air of "objectivity" that a musician should carry around, in order to pass on their subjectivity. It's too tricky to put music inside a box and label it in a way that takes away from its other meanings (let's forget about commercial pop music here for a while and talk about 'music'). When we say "Jordan", we're not only talking about peace and tolerance in their politically chewed up dimension, we are talking about my Jordan, she's above labels and free to be expressed in ways that transcend slogans and polished insincerity.

With all due respect to a vision that encourages the young and beautiful to take leading parts in Jordanian life, sticking a label on every soul that wants to walk down the less trodden road really defeats the purpose. A strong and mature vision is a subtle energy that watches its ripple effect take shape in so many people in confident, silent faith... and doesn't over brand!!

In the article below, the editor took out the very careful, very nice paragraph that talks about politicizing music... I don't know what better term to use, since there is politically-laden music that comes from the heart of resistance, whether social or political resistance. Aha, I found it… it's country-branding music… or something of the sort. So the editor took that out, but left comments about Zade's strong stage presence and the interesting less-arranged music of 75 orchestra musicians playing sustained notes most of the time, choir singers not venturing beyond simple straight forward voice arrangements, and a delay between Zade's signal to the conductor, who was standing on a pedestal waving 4 on 4's most of the time, and keeping long silences between Zade's piano licks and the grand finales by other instruments.

P.S. The headline emphasizes on Fete de La Musique, also mentioned in the article.

يستمر حتى الخميس ... عيد صاخب للموسيقى في الأردن

عمّان - ربى صقر صحيفة الحياة اللندنية - 22/06/08//

أسبوع حافل بالموسيقى بدأ في عمّان مع المؤلف وعازف البيانو الأردني زيد ديراني في استعراض موسيقي ضخم، تحت عنوان «ليلة واحدة في الأردن»، تبعه الانطلاق الرسمي لفعاليات احتفالية «عيد الموسيقى» العالمي مع هاني متواسي.
مشهد موسيقي جمع نحو خمسة آلاف مشاهد في المدرج الروماني وسط البلد، لحضور حفلة موسيقية مجانية لزيد ديراني برفقة «أوركسترا لندن» الفيلهارمونية الملكية، وجوقة «أصوات لندن»، برعاية الأميرة هيا بنت الحسين زوجة حاكم دبي الشيخ محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم.0

عزف زيد مقطوعات معظمها من تأليفه، تجلت فيها اتجاهاته الموسيقية التي شابهت في مذاقها العام توجهات عازف البيانو اليوناني ياني، بلمسات شرقية بسيطة بفضل إدخال عناصر شرقية على العمل مثل آلة القانون. كما عزف زيد معظم مقطوعاته على مقام «الحجاز»، كون آلة البيانو لا تتمكن من عزف «الأرباع» العربية التي تميز موسيقى المشرق.
حصد عرض «ليلة واحدة في الأردن» ردود فعل متفاوتة، فكثر أبدوا إعجابهم بشخصية زيد القوية، وهو الآن في ربيعه الخامس والعشرين، وقدرته على السيطرة على الجمهور والتعبير على المسرح، بينما كان يتوسط نحو 75 موسيقياً معظمهم من أصول غير عربية.
أما بعض الموسيقيين ممن حضروا العرض، فأبدوا ملاحظات حول التناسق الموسيقي والتوزيع الآلاتي الذي بدا ضعيفاً في استغلاله حجم المشاركة الهائلة على المسرح، من دون إعطاء أدوار توزيعية قوية للآلات المتنوعة. وفي معظم المقطوعات الموسيقية كانت المشاركة الصوتية لجوقة «أصوات لندن»، خجولة حيث كانت النوتات المستخدمة طويلة وممدودة
(sustained)
أما عملية التسليم بين الآلات التي عزفت في مقاطع كآلات رئيسة
(lead instruments)
، فكانت تتخللها لحظات صمت غير مفهومة وغير مبررة موسيقياً. وكأن المسرح كان مقسوماً بين أربع مجموعات موسيقية كان التفاهم بينها خجلاً يمشي على استحياء.
وتخللت العرض مقطوعات كان الهدف منها استحضار تاريخ الأردن وإحياء ذكرى الراحل الملك الحسين بن طلال، ومن بينها مقطوعة
«Lion of Jordan»
أو «أسد الأردن»، والتي حملت مصادفة العنوان نفسه لكتاب صدر حديثاً عن مؤلف اسرائيلي «معتدل» في توجهاته السياسية هو آفي شليم استعرض فيه حياة عاهل الأردن السابق ومحادثات السلام واللقاءات السرية بين الجانبين الأردني والاسرائيلي في تواريخ تم تحديدها وإطلاقها للمرة الأولى في المطبوعة المنتشرة حالياً في أنحاء البلاد.
واستضاف العرض موسيقيين من مختلف الجنسيات قدموا استعراضات موسيقية فردية ومؤثرة بصحبة الجوقة الموسيقية المرافقة، كانت نجمتهم صاحبة الصوت المخملي المغنية اللبنانية المغمورة جنا التي غنت مقطوعة من تأليف إلياس رحباني بعنوان «كل شي بيخلص»، قدمها زيد من ضمن باقة المقطوعات من تأليف موسيقيين قدماء من المنطقة العربية.
أما ليلة أول من أمس ، فحملت أنفاساً موسيقية مختلفة بصوت عازف الغيتار الأردني هاني متواسي الذي افتتح فعاليات «يوم الموسيقى العالمي». يقدم متواسي أغان أصيلة وتراثية برفقة الغيتار الإسباني والإيقاعات اللاتينية، والتي عادة ما ترافق صوته الجميل والمتمكن موسيقياً.0

وتتوالى عروض «يوم الموسيقى العالمي» بعرض في مدينة الزرقاء نظّم مساء أمس في قاعة الشريف حسين في وادي الحجر، لفرقة «شو هل أيام» التي تعيد تقديم ألحان ومقطوعات لزياد الرحباني ومحمد منير وسيد درويش وغيرهم.

أما مساء الخميس المقبل فسيشهد عرضاً لعدد من الفرق المتعددة الجنسية والمذاقات الموسيقية، من موسيقى الكترونية إلى راب عربي إلى روك.0

Picture of Zade's concert by Razan Fakhoury...