Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

Sunday, June 28, 2015

"a love supreme" / "allah supreme"?


 The recording has long been understood to be a deeply spiritual, even devotional, piece. Its four phases - "Acknowledgement", "Resolution", "Pursuance" and "Psalms" - reflect what Coltrane described as a "spiritual awakening" in his overcoming of drug and alcohol problems. 

Yet, what was the nature of that "spiritual awakening"? The conventional view is that by 1964, Coltrane had moved away from his Methodist upbringing, adopting a "pan-religious" outlook with a particular interest in Eastern mysticism. In spite of that, "A Love Supreme" is still described as laden with Biblical symbolism: the title "Psalm", and the rising cadences, reminiscent of black preachers' style, are offered as evidence that Coltrane was still rooted in Christianity. But ask one of the jazzmen or Muslim elders who knew Coltrane, and you get a different answer. 

The saxophonist Yusef Lateef, who died at the age of 93 earlier this year, worked closely with Coltrane between 1963 and 1966. In his autobiography , "A Gentle Giant", Lateef says: "The prayer that John wrote in 'A Love Supreme' repeats the phrase 'All praise belongs to God no matter what' several times. This phrase has the semantics of the al-Fatiha, which is the first chapter or sura of the Holy Quran. The Arabic transliteration is 'al-Humdulilah…' Since all faithful Muslims say the al-Fatiha five times a day or more, it is reasonable to assume that John heard this phrase from [his Muslim wife] Sister Naima many times." 

Lateef is referring to the poem Coltrane wrote and included in the liner notes of the album. Coltrane wrote: "No matter what … It is with God. He is gracious and merciful" and ends with "All praise to God..."

What Lateef and others have noted is that "gracious and merciful" is a translation of "rahman raheem", the opening lines of the Fatiha. Moreover, say the elders, when Coltrane begins chanting the album's title for half a minute it sounds like a Sufi breathily repeating "Allah supreme".

The relationship between Islam and jazz is almost a century-old. It was in the 1920s that the Ahmadiyya movement, a heterodox Islamic movement that emerged in 19th century India, began sending missionaries to US cities, building a substantial following among African Americans in the decades to come. In a trend that still intrigues historians and music critics, after World War II, scores of jazz musicians embraced Ahmadi Islam.

When Coltrane arrived in Philadelphia in 1943, the Muslim presence in the "city of brotherly love" would rattle the young man. As he told an interviewer in 1958: "This Muslim thing came up. I got introduced to that. And that kind of shook me." 

The saxophonist was surrounded by Muslims: his drummer Rashied Ali was Muslim, as was his pianist McCoy Tyner (Suleiman Saud), and saxophonist Lateef. Coltrane then married Naima Grubbs, an observant Muslim. Even Coltrane's band members have pondered his relationship to Islam. If Lateef suspected that Coltrane's art was influenced by the Quran, the drummer Rashied Ali thought that the saxophonist was "a real country boy" and that "he was into being a Muslim and everything like that". One also hears the argument that Coltrane wanted to title his composition Allah Supreme - instead of A Love Supreme - but was worried about a political backlash, given the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. "Back then jazz and Islam were intertwined - the first time I heard the adhan on Temple University radio, I thought it was a Nina Simone song," says Imam Nadim Ali, a celebrated jazz deejay and community leader who spent his youth in Philadelphia. "Artists were deeply influenced by Islam - sometimes publicly in their art, sometimes privately." 

It's not inconceivable that "A Love Supreme" could have been inspired by the Quran. After all, as the elders will observe, "Celebration", that great funk hit by Kool & the Gang, was inspired by a Quranic sura. 

"The initial idea came from the Quran," says Ronald Bell (Khalis Bayyan), the group's saxophonist and musical arranger. "I was reading the passage, where God was creating Adam, and the angels were celebrating and singing praises. That inspired me to write the basic chords, the line, 'Everyone around the world, come on, celebration'."

This song inspired by Islam - and released in 1980 - would become an international hit heard at ball games and political rallies in the US, and ironically was played by the Reagan administration on February 7, 1981, to welcome home the hostages held by students in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

from b-boy to islamic studies scholar

Loonwatch: Exclusive Interview with Reza Aslan

I read Reza Aslan's "No God But God" a few months ago and was really impressed. After reading the above interview I'm now even more impressed with the person. The wide-ranging interview covers Aslan's time as a break dancer, his conversion to evangelical Christianity and his subsequent rediscovery to his Muslim roots, his love-hate relationship with Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, the nature of Islamic reform, the role of rationality in Islam and Christianity, Iranian eschatology, the Arab Spring, the New Atheists, and why Osama bin Laden is like Freddie Mercury. And for an added bonus he shares his super-secret sleeper agent activation code.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

land far away / satta massagana / happy land

Land Far Away by Muslim female rap duo, Poetic Pilgrimage, is a remix of the reggae classic Satta Massagana by the Rastafarian musical group, The Abyssinians.


Land Far Away - Poetic Pilgrimage

My first impression was that mixing Islam with Rastafarian themes was odd until I really started thinking about how the Quran also deals with the subject of the Exodus of the children of Israel to the Promised Land. Furthermore, the general themes of land and migration show up in other Islamic contexts as well, from the travels of Abraham (as), to the Hajj to Mecca, to the hijra which marks the turning point of the Islamic calendar, to the Night Journey to al Aqsa (the "farther mosque" so literally a Land Far Away), to the "minor hijra" in Abyssinia, to the Garden. We are always traveling.


Satta Massagana - Abyssinians (the standard "studio" version)


Satta Massagana - Abyssinians (a "rootsier" version from a documentary about Rastafari)


Happy Land - Carlton & the Shoes (an earlier song which inspired Satta Massagana)

a love supreme: musilm jazz artists

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

continuing soundtrack of the revolution

Both of these sites feature a round-up of clips of chanting and singing from Tahrir Square as well as studio tracks by artists expressing their solidarity with the protesters.

KabobFest: The Soundtrack of #Jan25
hawgblawg: Music of the Egyptian Revolution

hip-hop for revolution

PRI's The World: Hip-Hop for Revolution

The poetic tradition in North Africa has also woven its way into more modern forms of expression. Rappers and hip-hop artists from Algiers to Cairo have been casting critical eyes on governments and dictators for years now. In the wake of unrest across the region, their rhymes have become a kind of soundtrack for revolution.

Sunday, December 05, 2010

kabbalah and jazz

The article, Kabbalah and Jazz: The Mystical Foundation of Improvisational Music reminded me of the film Happy Feet and how every penguin has their own unique heartsong when it says:
In his great work To Heal the Soul, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira wrote that all humans each have their own unique musical ladder -- a distinct melody that allows one to draw down spiritual sustenance into this world. This melody is exclusive and in essence can not be performed by anyone else. He believes that it is so individualized that to use someone else's ladder is like putting someone else's saliva into your mouth to sing. This concept is so ubiquitous, so universal, that Rebbe Nachman of Breslov went as far as to say that each and every blade of grass has its own unique melody as well.

For more reflections on jazz and spirituality from an Islamic perspective.
all that jazz...
the writings of yusef lateef
the philosophy of ahmed abdul-malik

Sunday, October 10, 2010

imagine

The recent occasion of John Lennon's 70th birthday put me in a mood to wonder about what different covers/versions/mash-ups had been done of the famous anti-anthem, "Imagine".

I actually found two which were (mostly) in Arabic:

Noa & Khaled (Marrakech)

and also

GAROU / Patrick FIORI / Luck MERVIL / Julie ZENATTI / Rachid TAHA / KHALED / FAUDEL / Liane FOLY / Tina ARENA / Julien CLERC / Cheb MAMI

One of the more technically interesting is:

where the lyrics, instead of being sung by John Lennon, were taken from samples of George Bush speeches.


This version by A Perfect Circle, is darker than most, both musically and visually. The historical images definitely underline the wide distance between Lennon's ideals and contemporary reality.


This one is of Bill Clinton "singing" along with a choir of Arab and Jewish children.

And of course there are at least two hip-hop versions:

Nas + Pitbull (remix)


2Pac vs. John Lennon - DJ Vlad Rock Phenomenon Remix

In both of the above, the songs start off being nearly-identical to the original and the rap doesn't come in until fairly late in each song.

You might also be interested in:
Digg: Best and Worst Imagine Covers which includes versions by Diana Ross, Avril Lavigne, David Bowie and Queen along with a Gregorian chant version, a Latin version, an electronica version, and another Nas remix.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

the arab league of hip-hop

Recently I've been mulling over the words at the top of my blog and I've been trying to develop a deeper, more fleshed out notion for myself of what they mean. Just what does a global anti-hegemonic counter-modernity look like and how does it provide an alternative to global imperialism? In what sense is Islam at the heart of this emerging culture? For the moment, I'm finding it more difficult to answer this question on the political level, but easier to elaborate in the realm of culture.

For example, a recent piece in Foreign Policy, The Arab League of Hip Hop gives a nice survey of some recent developments in Arab (mostly Muslim) hip-hop. Prominently featured in the article is UK-born Palestinian MC, Shadia Mansour, the "First Lady of Arab Hip-Hop".

"hamdulillah" by the narcicyst (ft. shadia mansour)



Beautiful song. Beautiful video.
(h/t to islamicate)

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

man bites dog: buddhist fundamentalists and muslim prisoners of conscience

I totally missed this story when it happened but it seems worth noting as an example.
An expatriate Sri Lankan woman who wrote two books about her conversion from Buddhism to Islam has been arrested while on holiday in Sri Lanka, apparently for causing offence to Buddhists.

Sarah Malini Perera, who was born in Sri Lanka but has lived in Bahrain since 1985 and converted to Islam in 1999, was arrested last week under the country’s strict emergency laws, according to the police.

They declined to give precise details of the 38-year-old writer’s offence, but suggested that her books were deemed to have caused offence to ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, who account for about 70 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million people.

For the whole story, see: Author Sarah Malini Perera held ‘for offending Buddhists’ in Sri Lanka

The same piece mentions that the Sri Lankan government denied a visa to Muslim (yes Muslim) singer Akon because the video for his song Sexy Chick included images of video "vixens" dancing with a statue of the Buddha in the background. Part of the backlash included a crowd of over 200 angry rock-throwing Buddhists attacking the offices of Akon's concert promoters, damaging property and injuring a few individuals. You can find more details on that story here.

Both these stories, especially taken together, totally invert the usual narratives we are spoon-fed about religion and the tolerance/ sensitivity and peacefulness/ violence of Buddhism / Islam respectively. I'm a little surprised (but not really) that they didn't get more attention. A few more accounts like these and the dominant narrative would begin to crack. If members of a "good" religion like Buddhism can be pushed to violence when their sensitivities are threatened and if even Muslims can be victims of censorship and exclusion for acting on their conscience then who are the heroes and who are the villains?

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

reyes de las calles - el mundo va acabarse

Just some amusing Afro-Cuban, Afro-futuristic, anti-racist, apocalyptic hip-hop. If I had more patience I would transcribe the lyrics along with the translation. (And I'm actually surprised and a little disappointed that no one else out there seems to have done it already.) The group's name means "Kings of the Streets" and the song's title means "The world is going to end". The lyrics tell the story of what happens when God (and the Martians) come down to Earth to set things right.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

america 2001 - long hairz collective

Just continuing my Michigan musings... here is one of the few clips I could find online with music by the Long Hairz Collective. I've blogged about them before (see "i've seen ethiopians knocking out rome" and also water warriors). I could be wrong but I think they've basically broken up but the members are still out there performing and putting positive messages out there in the atmosphere.



You can download their album Dread Locks & Pony Tales over at CD Baby

Sunday, February 07, 2010

mami el negro (el africano) part two

Out of historical interest and a desire for completeness, here is THE ORIGINAL version of "El Africano" (which is the only one I've heard with a female vocalist)



And an interview with Calixto Ochoa about the story behind the song:



See also:
mami el negro esta rabioso (el africano)

Sunday, August 09, 2009

qawwali kissing flamenco



for more of this amazing fusion and synthesis, you might want to check out the Sologak blog: Sufi Chant: Qawali & Flamenco

Friday, June 12, 2009

heru in jamaica

Here is a roughly two hour discussion/interview/talk with Heru (whom we've talked about before) for a Jamaican TV show. Topics include: anti-black violence in Jamaican music, homosexuality in dancehall, the roots of Rastafari and Halie Selassie, the significance of Obama's election, and in general he gives a pretty good articulation of a (not "the") Pan-African outlook on politics, economics, and current events. He has a lot of positive things to say which are worth thinking about. At the same time, it was weird for me to hear his affected "Jamaican" accent. I imagine that he's either making a conscious choice to speak that way because of his involvement in dub and reggae or he's picking it up honestly because of how much time he is spending in the West Indies or with working with Caribbean people. He touches a little on his own religious beliefs but I would be really interested in hearing an indepth discussion of Ausar Auset (if that's the path he is on)