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SABABA | |
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These songs are all copyrighted and can only be used with permission. please email me with any questions Sabababand@yahoo.com or musahanhan@yahoo.com JARASH- MP3 I think this song really captures the sound of the band. It is and original tune that I wrote around 1992-3 I just learned my first jazz chord, which was Dm9. I went to the practice room and wrote this song. Since I did not really know much about the JAZZ world I wrote whatever came to my head. It turned to be one of my most original tunes. I like to start with this song, because it has a simple but catchy melody. The beat " LAFF" really fits it like a glove. I always heard this a flute melody. Whenever I lay this on a CD that will definitely be the instrument of choice. It combines the Phrygian and Dorian modes. "JARASH "is a small town in JORDAN. It has a lot of Roman ruins and a Stadium where a lot of concerts take place. I hope we can perform there one day. As you walk on the big wide roads among the ruins, you get to a point where 4 roads each meat; each heading in a different direction. These four roads where basically where the old silk trade and caravan used to meet and then each would go it's own separate way. One would head North to Syria, One east to Iraq, one west to Palestine, and one south towards the gulf. I remember standing at that conjunction and thinking to myself, this is one special moment in one special place. that was in 1995 The song was written a couple years before I went back to a visit. For the most part it was one of the few field trip destination we used to go to as kids. To this day whenever I hear the word "Jarash" it reminds me of my wonderful childhood days and those wonderful field trips we used to take in school. Hope you like it ! ANDALUSIA Video This piece is in 10/8 ( Samai Thagil ). Inspired by the most famous song " Lama Bada Yatathana". There is a whole genre of music called "Almouashahat Al andalusia" That style was really popular when the Arabs were in Spain. It was very inventive Rhythmically and pieces tended to transition to several scales and rhythms. It remains the most challenging style of Arabic musicians. In order to Jazz it up I changed the melody around, Sped up the tempo to almost double the normal speed and wrote an inspired : ) B part melody. I am always interested to hear what people think of this after we play it, especially those who are familiar with that original melody.
SAIDI IN F - Video This is basically a blues in F. Like many Jazz standards. "Saiidi" is the most common Rhythm in Arabic music these days. It comes from "Saiidi" a small town in Egypt that is famous for it is musicianship. Traditionally the beat has Slow feel and traditionally played on those Big "Duffs". In recent years it was modified and the beat was programmed on endless drum patterns for many pop songs. I always think of this song as a "whimsical grin", It always puts a smile on my face no matter how many times I hear it. In the last few measures the scale is "Hijaz F" The breaks are typical belly dance hits
RASHIDI Video A traditional Egyptian song. I always loved this song. It is light, funny and fun. I wanted to show how very simple melodies can be used as a germ of an idea that can be stretched and improvised on and taken to a whole new world. The band tends to stretch out on this one, and it gives us a chance to get into some of the middle eastern scales. Check out our demo with the lovely Hannah
I had the bass line for this song in my head for years, but I never quite found the melody to fit on top. Finally one night just before I go to sleep being dead tired it came to me. I told my wife, finally it came. Whenever I used to analyze a song I used think of it as a chords, scale and melody and I think , Oh yeh that was a simple thing I understand it. This song made me less critical because I realized that there are a lot of composers that spent an incredible amount of time finding the right melody for the right song etc. like I did on this one. My 4 year old daughter to Kaylana named it and she said. " Call it Groovey pick" so I called it KK Groovey pick. KK is my nick name for her Loay came up a cool 4 bar percussion lick for this one and Marco quoted from Santana song "I can't get nobody" in one of our gigs and I keep asking him to do it every time. I just love it This is one of my favorite songs. It just has a really nice groove I can play it all day long This is a traditional Iraqi song that is very famous all over the middle east. The beat is " JOBI " probably the most popular rhythm in Iraq. The phrasing is very interesting for the Jazz musicians because the phrases are 6 measure long as compared to the 8 measure long phrases in Jazz standards. While my chord arrangement is very simple I think it was an inspired choice ( If I may say so myself ). These chords just work so well and the band loves to play it. I also switch back and forth with another famous Iraqi beat " Haja3" I anyway encourage " SAUL " our bass player to do a walking bass line and on this beat and it worked like a charm. In the end I wanted the band to all jam and improvise at the same time, New Orleans Style. My little girl "XIANA" is always playing catch with her brothers and sister. Whenever anyone catches her or she catch someone she yells " KATSHU" with the most beautiful child laughter. She is always running around me while I am playing around on the piano and her voice is music to my ears. I like the intro to this song when we can get it together. and I like the funky middle part. Susu takes a nice solo on the CAJUN on the this and it sounds delicious every time
This is a John Coltrane classic that I always enjoyed playing with my JAZZ band and I just rearranged it for SABABA. It worked so well on the Khaligi rhythms that I wrote my own Cm Blues number I called it Mr. MJ af I worte this piece to my cousin Musa Jamal. We call him Musa J. He is more like a brother to me. It is a Cm blues. I have two variation written on the head and beat is " Adani" or some say " Khaligi"
We were asked to perform at the Deyoung Museum in San Francisco when it was reopened. In honor of that occasion I dedicate this piece to that museum first show after it reopened. It was for the female pharaoh HATSHEPSUT. Pieces were collected from over 160 galleries around the world. At the same time I was working on a piece that I wanted to dedicate to Louis Armstrong . So I somehow combined that old New Orleans sound, " When the saints go marching in " with an old traditional Egyptian sound " Ah Ya zein" and this song was born. Hope you enjoy it. This song is a tribute to my father " FUAD" The best father anyone could ever have. It is also about the special relationship between father and son. It continues to this day with my own kids. The beat is WAHDA KABIRA. A very slow and hunting beat. Used in hundered of standard arabic songs by Um Kalthoum and the likes. It is also inspired by the famouse Jazz standard " Song for my father ". I always loved that song and loved playing it. Now I get a chance to have my own standard : )
This song is a fast 10/8 Georgina. This rhythm is very famous in Iraq. One of the most famous Singer there " Nazem Alghazali" made a name for himself singing a lot of the folkloric songs that became famous all over the middle east. His Tabla player ( Dumbeck) would do all kinds of variation on top of this hard rythm and makes it hard to pick out. A lot of musicians play it as 6/8 some say it is 32/16, and some mistook it for a 4/4. It is an amazing rythm. This piece was inspired by one of Nzem most famous Georgina song, "Ami ya baya3 alwared" He is talking to the florist asking him how much are these roses for. This is dedicated to "Nazem"
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