Allan Holdsworth was a true revolutionary! He was the Che Guevara of the guitar world! :-)

I am not kidding! More than any of the other guitar greats of the fusion revolution, Holdsworth was the most innovative. Today he is worshipped and emulated for what he did for the instrument more than any other guitarist!

With Soft Machine in 1976


With his trio in 2009 doing Devil Take The Hindmost!

My tribute to Frank Zappa!

Shortly before Frank died in 1993 I composed and programmed the basic rhythm section of this tribute on a Yamaha Music Computer. The sounds I used came from a Proteus E-mu synthesizer. For some reason I never got around to finishing it. Later that computer crashed and I lost all the midi files that were on it. This week I found an old cassette of the recording and decided to finish it by adding stuff to it. I cut it up and looped a section to fit a guitar solo.Some drum rolls were added to the guitar and piano solo sections. And finally the part I am excited the most about adding to the original recording is the ending where the main melody of Frank's composition Eat That Question is quoted. I am very pleased with the way the final mix of this updated version turned out. I hope I have not done an injustice to Frank with this composition and with the guitar solo I played on it which was inspired directly by FZ's style of playing. I would appreciate comments from everyone who listens to it even if they are negative.

My music from 1981 - 1990

Have been going through my archives and finding old music I wrote and recorded in the 80's some of which I had forgotten existed! Even though the recording is primitive with some of the earlier recordings, I find myself liking them a lot. These MP3's can be listened to by clicking on the links or right clicking them and choosing the option "save target as":

During the Israeli Invasion of 1982 my friend Khaled al Khudayri came to Cyprus and we recordeda collection of instrumentals called Corniche 82. This tune was written by me. I played all the guitars except the first acoustic guitar solo which Khaled played. He also played the percussion.

Instrumental with Khaled

In 1934, a song called Cocktails For Two was written by Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston for a movie called The Murder Vanities. It was recorded by Duke Ellington and countless others. Even I had a go at it in 1981 when I was stil learning how to record music at home. Don't expect anything professional but I think I did a pretty good job.

Cocktails For Two

In 1991, I wrote and produced the music for Issa Ghandour's second album. Lyrics for this tune were written by Hamza Ramadan. Issa totally rocks on this one. The sax solo was played by David De Lyon.

Mish Ma32oul with Issa Ghandour

Recorded in 1990 using Yamaha computer. Saxophone fills played by David de Leon.

Never Ending Pack of Lies

Recorded in 1982 on Tascam Portastudio 144. Before I had any form of percussion or drums. Just guitars and bass.

Things They Say

When I found out back in 1990 that David De Lyon (the sax player playing on this tune) was going to be in Cyprus for the whole summer, I knew I had to take advantage of his presence and wrote about 4 tunes especially with him in mind. Too bad the brass and drum sounds were so crappy back then. Every time I I try to imagine what this tune would have sounded like with a real drummer playing, I get so frustrated I want to bang my head against the wall. This instrumental was titled "Phone Call From Beirut". My dream is to redo the jazz tunes I wrote that summer with real musicians.

Phone Call From Beirut

In 1990, a young lady called Jane Fenwick wrote some lyrics to a piece of music that I had composed. I used the computer to program the music and Jane sang the lyrics which she had written for the song. Stylistically, the song was different from anything I had done before.

Without You

In 1990, I started using a computer to program music. During that year I composed a number of pieces which were outside my usual style of writing and more in the jazz vein. Several of those tunes featured a young sax player called David De Leon who happened to be visiting Cyprus from the United States. This tune is entitled "The Truth Really Hurts".

The Truth Really Hurts

In 1990 I bought a Yamaha C-1 Music Computer and for the first time I was able to program music. The sounds came from my Proteus synth. My friend , Hassan Mroueh wrote some Arabic lyrics and asked me to compose music for them. We recorded it with Nicole Shwairy on vocals. Please have a listen.

Ghayyer Ba2A

An instrumental recorded in 1987 using a pre-recorded drum track.

Instrumental from 1985

This song called "Without" was recorded in 1986. I used a programmable drum machine. I played all the instruments and sang all the voices.

Without

This instrumental from 1985 would have sounded so much better if I had real drums instead of the horrible rhythm box which came with the toy organ/keyboard.

Instrumental from 1987

Panayota was recorded in 1987 on my 4 track recorder using a primitive drum machine. Panayota was the name of the Cypriot cleaning lady who worked for my family in Cyprus. I suspected her of stealing cash from my wallet on a regular basis so I devised a trap in which I succeeded in filming a video of her counting a wad... of cash and then sticking three ten pound bills in her bra. Later when she denied stealing the money she was made to watch the video. She went into total shock. :-)

Panayota 1987

Using a pre-recorded drum track, I played the guitars and bass and sang as well on this tune called The Stand. It was inspired by the hard rock sound of 70's.

The Stand 1986

In 1988, I recorded an instrumental piece called Strangers. It was inspired by a song of the same title by Frida (former singer of ABBA). I played all the instruments and programmed the drum machine.

Strangers 1988

The song Moving On on my 2009 CD was co-written by Munir Khauli in 1986. Back then he wrote some Arabic lyrics for the song and it became Kan Ya Makan from his first album Heik 7a Nishtghil (1986). I played the guitar solo at the end of the song. Please have a listen.

Kan Ya Makan

In 1982, Munir Khauli and I recorded a collection of songs under the title Broken Dreams. "Island" is a funky tune I wrote. Recorded primitively using a rhythm box, guitars and a toy organ.

Island

In 1989, I wrote and recorded an instrumental piece called Infidel. Again, it was a home recording made in Cyprus on a 4 track cassette with me playing eveything and programming a drum machine. The piece ends with a great keyboard solo by Oussama Rahbani who was in Cyprus during the Aoun war.

Infidel

In 1988, I recorded my own version of the John Lennon song "Every Little Thing" which originally appeared the album "Beatles For Sale". This recording was made at home on a 4 track Yamaha cassette deck. I played the guitars and the bass, sang all the voices and programmed the drum machine. Have a listen and let me know what you think.

Every Little thing 1988


In 1981, I bought a PORTASTUDIO 144 by Tascam, the first 4 track cassette recorder to ever go on the market. I was still a beginner at recording and used only electric guitars and a small wooden percussion instrument to record this intrumental called "Shadows" which I had just written on the spot to test the recorder.... Although neither the playing nor the recording quality are professional, I am very proud of this tune. Next year, this recording will be thirty years old! That's pretty depressing actually :-)

Shadows 1981

My Contribution to the history of Lebanese Pop Music :-))

Regarding the title of this post, many people I know argue that I should not be taking credit for these songs or be proud of them as they are very tacky and cheesy.While I agree that they are possibly slightly tacky, I am not embarassed by them in the least and am happy to take the credit as the composer. The first song "Oyoun el Soud" was a huge hit and it launched the career of Issa Ghandour who is a great guy. It has been 16 years since it was a hit and I meet people all the time who have very fond memories of the song and can still recite all the words by heart!


In 1990, guitarist/songwriter Walid Itayim and Lebanese pop singer Issa Ghandour got together on the island of Cyprus to record Issa's second album. The result was a 6-track mini album that was released in 1991 on cassette under the title of "Mish Ma32oul" which was also the name of one of the songs. They wanted to introduce to the Arabic music world a new and innovative brand of pop that was unlike anything that had been done up until then. The idea was to fuse elements of Rock, Funk, Jazz and Blues and combine them with Arabic lyrics written by Issa set to catchy melodies and memorable hooks. While nowadays this kind of approach is very common, back in 1990 no one had yet attempted to do anything in that style. The result was quite innovative and different from anything that the Lebanese popular music audience had heard. Unfortunately, the music sounded foreign and strange to the ears of the people who were not already exposed to that kind of music (the majority of the Arabic music public). Issa Ghandour took quite a bit of criticism for the album but noticed that there was a generally positive response to one of the songs, called "3oyoun el-Soud". Issa figured that with a new arrangement that was more in tune with the musical trends of the time, the song had enormous commercial potential. So, in 1994, Hani Siblini, who was still in the early stages of his career as "arranger for the stars", was brought in to give his personal touch to the song. Along with the video clip that was speedily put together, "3oyoun el-Soud" became a mega-hit that took the Lebanese and Arab pop scene by storm (thanks in part to Future TV who, believing in the song and in Issa as an artist, played the clip on a regular basis both locally and internationally). Even today, the song is remembered by everybody and brings back a lot of nostalgic feelings to the people who loved the song when it first came out. In 1996, the song was rearranged and recorded in Egypt for Issa's third album "Is2alouh" but didn't even come close to matching the 1994 version and was a disappointment to many of the original song's fans. The Siblini version was never released on CD and has not been heard or seen on Lebanon's airwaves in almost 15 years. So now, with the success of youtube, it has become an absolute necessity for the song to earn it's proper place in Lebanese pop history. It's appearrance on youtube serves a double purpose: a) to satisfy the nostalgic feelings of the people who love and miss the song and b) to introduce it to the younger generation who never got to hear the song or watch the clip. Another thing that should be noted is that the clip broke ground image-wise and made an important fashion statement. Traditionally, the Arab and Lebanese "moutrib" always appeared in video clips stiffly dressed in a black suit and tie in the best case scenario or the even way more repulsive glittering silver and gold blazers and tasteless bow-ties. In his video clip, Issa was the first Arab "moutrib" to appear in a sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, a look that the young people of the Lebanon of the 1990's could more easily relate to. Finally, a piece of trivia about the origins of "3oyoun el Soud" that hardly anyone actually knows is the fact that Walid Itayim, the composer of the song, first wrote and recorded it as an English language rock ballad in 1981 under the title "The Genius". The subject matter of the original lyrics had no relation whatsoever to the Arabic version and musically and stylistically was incredibly different. But if you listen to the original version you will be able to tell that the two songs are one and the same because they clearly share the same melody and chord pattern.

Oyoun el Soud
Song composed by Walid Itayim
Lyrics written by Issa Ghandour
Music arranged by Hani Siblini



In 1996 Issa signed with the Music Master label for his third album "Is2alouh" and he travelled to Egypt where he worked with the "cream of the crop" of Egyptian musicians and arrangers. Issa, who still believed in the 6 songs from "Mish Ma32oul", had two years earlier had 3oyoun el Soud rearranged by Hani Siblini and scored a mega hit with it. For the Egyptian sessions, another song from "Mish Ma32oul" was to be rearranged and recorded for his third album. The very successful Egyptian producer/arranger Ashraf Ma7rous liked the bluesy funk influenced "Dawwar Ya Zaman" so he had a go at reworking it and both Issa and Walid Itayim (the original composer and arranger of the song) loved the result! When the time came to make video clips from the new album, Dawwar Ya Zaman was given to the newly created computer video animation department at Future TV who undertook a project that was a first of it's kind in the Arab pop world. The technology back then was in it's early stages and it took many months to complete the work in that the animation had to be done by hand frame by frame. But the final result was well worth the waiting and hard work! Dawwar Ya Zaman was the first Arabic music clip to utilize computer animation.


Dawwar Ya Zaman
Song composed by Walid Itayim
Lyrics written by Issa Ghandour
Music arranged by Ashraf Ma7rous

The Multi-Talented Munir Khauli - Lebanon's Best Kept Secret

Munir Khauli is an example of the true artist. An artist who has gone practically unnoticed over a 25 year career as a composer/musician/satirist/social commentator because of his refusal to compromise his work in favor of the detestable commercialism that dominates the Lebanese music industry. A true innovator, he was the first Lebanese composer to incorporate Arabic lyrics into rock, blues, R&B music and Funk with his first album "Heik 7a Nishtighil?" in 1986. 2001 saw the release of his third album "Bil #arabi el Mushabra7". Click on the following link to listen to his song Mouterbeen or download the mp3 by right clicking it and choosing "save target as".

Long before Ghassan Rahbani, Soap Kills and Mashrou3 Leila, he was writing and recording Rock and Blues influenced songs with Arabic lyrics. Imagine how he must have felt everytime a tv interviewer would assume that he was inspired by Ghassan Rahbani. Ziad Rahbani is the only artist before him who was fusing elements of Arabic music with Western influences. Unlike Ziad, who was more into jazz and Latin music, Munir grew up with Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Robin Trower, Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton to name just a few. His most recent CD was released in 2003 under the title "Tannin el-Tarab". Apart from recording his own music, Munir has worked both as a session musician and in live concerts with Ziad Rahbani, Fairuz, Tania Saleh, Ghazi Abdel Baki, my CD "Where I Wanna Be" and many others. He has also composed dozens of TV and Radio jingles for commercials and TV series. For more on Munir Khauli, click on the following links:


http://www.munirkhauli.net/
http://www.myspace.com/mkhauli
http://www.youtube.com/user/munirkhauli
http://www.youtube.com/user/lowando


At these sites, you will have access to a biography, a photo gallery, a diary (blog), downloadable mp3's and many video clips. Munir deserves much more recognition for his achievements.

Watch this live version of the song FM recorded in Beirut at the Hamra Festival on July 26 , 2010




Click on the following link to listen to his song Mouterbeen or download the mp3 by right clicking it and choosing "save target as". "Mouterbeen" means "singers" and talks about the so called "singers" who dominated the Lebanese pop world at that time. The Frank Zappa influence is very evident here. There is awesome guitar playing on it.

Click on the following link to listen to his song Ma Kbeer Illa el Jamal or download the mp3 by right clicking it and choosing "save target as". The literal translation of the title of this song is "NOTHING IS BIG EXCEPT THE CAMEL". This expression was designed to reduce the gravity of one's problems by comparing them with something much bigger (in this case, the camel).

Click on the following link to listen to his song Na3am or download the mp3 by right clicking it and choosing "save target as". In this song he is introducing himself to the the public. Check out the amazing guitar soloing on it.

Even though his more widely known songs are sung in Arabic, Munir, who has a B.A. in English literature, is one hell of an English language writer. You will find that out for yourself when you read his diary. Most of his "fans" are not even aware of the existence of a huge repertoire of English language songs that he has written over the years. In fact, the number of these English language songs is at least 5 times the number of songs in his Arabic repertoire. Hopefully soon some of his English language songs will finally see the light and a whole new audience will discover him.

I would like to include here a small excerpt from his diary (blog) written after the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006. Anyone who has lived in Lebanon during the different wars that this country has been through will be able to identify with this excerpt that deals with the long electricity cuts. I have read this paragraph over a hundred times and I have found myself laughing out loud every single time!:

"I dream of a simple life, coexistence with my fellow man (a fellow woman would be even more preferable, or a cat, for that matter), and the ability to pursue my goals unhindered. And war, for some reason, always proves to be a major hindrance."

"For those of you who have not been in one, there are unforgettable experiences to be had during times of war. Attempting to read by candlelight and inadvertently getting a wax job is one such experience. I am missing a whole batch of hair from my chest (barrel chest, may I add), where I had propped up the candle holder, with the book right behind it (an Alfred Hitchcock paperback, for real bedtime horror). Spending the day lined up behind long queues of cars at several gas stations, just to get the tank half filled, is also worth trying. But the cream of the crop has to be this: walking through the streets when electric power is out in the whole neighborhood. If you've tried floating motionless in a dark, silent pyramid, and come out needing just a little bit more, this is custom made for you. It is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience (if you're lucky. For us it's a lot more frequent). In a small apartment with which one is fairly familiar, hazards to be avoided in total darkness are bumping a shin against the leg of a table, or dislocating a shoulder on a door frame. But in the wide open streets, you could walk straight into a parked car, or kick an unsuspecting football-sized rat, with no forewarning whatsoever. No way to avoid the numerous pits and crevices in the road, so baby steps are in order. And sidewalks are a menace to navigate, so walking has to be in the middle of the street. When a car approaches from afar, you must make the most of the illumination provided by its headlights and run as fast as you can, covering as much distance as possible. I swear, the total, undiluted darkness has to be seen to be believed. You have to rely on inner glow if you are to see an inch in front of you. I made many such nocturnal hikes and've died to tell about them. Naturally, I had a small flashlight on hand, but was afraid of using it for fear of getting rounded up on suspicion of signalling to jet fighters hovering overhead."

On his official website, only one English language song is available for download.Click on the following link to listen to his song Arab Blues or download the mp3 by right clicking it and choosing "save target as". In the aftermath of the September 11th. attack on New York and the resulting discrimination and hate of Arabs living in the US , his producer asked him to write a song in English dealing with this problem.

The brilliant Bob Malach with Ben Sidran

King of Cool, Doctor Jazz, Ben Sidran with sax player Bob Malach, who judging by notes he plays and the fresh ideas and scales he comes up with when he solos, should have been a household name by now. From Bob Malach's generation, Michael Brecker is the only sax player who is on that same level of genius. Just Listen to Bob improvising and see how unpredictable he is and how, unlike most players, his solos are not merely a collection of familiar cliches. Bob Malach has performed and recorded with dozens of great jazz artists that include Mike Stern, Michel Petrucciani, Robben Ford to name only a few.



For a great live concert with Bob Malach on sax check out this 2010 concert with the CTI Allstars at a great blog called Bogard's Jazztapes

http://bogardjazz.blogspot.com/2010/06/cti-all-star-band-feat-curtis-stigers.html

Force - The Band I Was in from 1983 till 1985

From 1983 - 1985, I was a member of a band called Force for 2 years in my native country, Lebanon. We did several concerts during that period. The live clips included here were filmed the BUC (Beirut University College) now called LAU (Lebanese American University) The band was made up of Abboud Saadi: Bass, Walid Itayim: Guitar, Kevork Missirian: Guitar, Emile Boustany: Drums. The first clip is a live performance of "Stand Up". Abboud, who composed the song, was a big fan of The Police and Sting and that's evident on this song.




Our repertoire was made up of original compositions only (no covers). We recorded one album which was released in Lebanon on cassette only (you can download the album as RAR file from rapidshare - link below). The leader of Force, Abboud, wrote and arranged 9 out of the 10 songs on the album. I wrote and helped arrange the one remaining track, Boulder Bound (the live clip of the song right below this paragraph).



All the keyboard parts were also written and arranged by Abboud. At the time of recording, we did not have a regular keyboard player so the owner of the recording studio volunteered to play the keyboard parts. This happened to be the very well known composer/arranger Ziad Rahbani. He was an old friend of the band members but still, it was cool to have a living legend as a session musician on our album :-) This was at the height of the civil war and planning rehearsals and concerts was very difficult because of security issues and there was always the chance of our concerts being cancelled at the last minute if the fighting that was almost a daily thing was still taking place on the day of the concert! Inspired by the state of war we lived in, the following instrumental's title was called "Mortar".






In 1985, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) was working on a TV news report on wartorn Lebanon and our band caught their attention. Their correspondent, Peter George, who did the report was so amazed by the fact that Force managed to function in the midst of all the fighting and the killing so we ended up being in a small segment of the report! This last clip is the ABC segment:



Here is the link to download the Force album from rapidshare:

http://rapidshare.com/files/405217944/FORCE_ALBUM.rar.html

Sima Itayim (my daughter) - Singer/Songwriter

Sima Itayim was born in 1992 in Nicosia, Cyprus but moved back to her native country, Lebanon, in 2003. From a very early age it became very clear that she had a huge musical talent. At age 13, Sima taught herself to play the guitar and started writing and recording her own songs. Please visit Sima's music profile on myspace to listen to it as well as four other compositions of hers recorded during the last 2 years. Once an album's worth of material is recorded her first CD will hopefully be released. . It's hard to believe that at the young age of 17, Sima has written songs that are so musically rich and original and so lyrically sophisticated and mature! She also has limitless vocal abilities and a voice that match her amazing musical talent! If her music gets to be heard by the right people in the music business Sima will surely become an internationally recognised singer/songwriter and star! Join the hundreds of people who have so far had the Sima Itayim musical experience by clicking on the following link:

Sima's Music Myspace


Sima Fan Page on Facebook

Brand new album from Walter Trout released today! Listen to 1 song

Guitarist/singer Walter Trout's new album Common Ground is scheduled to be released today, July 6, 2010. You can buy it at Amazon and all the major CD outlets. Listen to an audio file of track 9 which is called Eyes of A Child. In case you are not familiar with Walter Trout, he first made his mark when he shared guitar duties with Coco Montoya for a number of years in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers during the 1980's. He became a solo artist in the early 1990's and has recorded over 20 CDs under his own name.