I saw these guys at GIG tonight. When I got there I stood in line behind a tall man and when I heard his voice I knew it was Barrett Martin. I tapped him on his back and he turned around. He introduced me to his best friend Tony. Tony and I looked at each other – we met in Santa Fe in the late eighties, but had not seen each other in a long time.
GIG was packed. I sat next to Barrett and we caught up on stuff. I texted Stephen to see whether he made it into GIG and he came by and said hi. Then Rahim and Souhail Kaspar stepped onto the stage and started. Souhail Kaspar is a devastating percussionist – Jon told me he was one of Ron’s teachers – and he and Rahim got into some wonderful exchanges. Rahim introduced a piece saying that it was an Iraqi classic, but that Syrians say that it is a Syrian song. Then he said that it was definitely an Iraqi song and he hoped there were no Syrians in the room – except for his wife, who is Syrian. She told me later, when Rahim took his cigarette break, that it was a Syrian song for sure…
Rahim was fired up by Souhail Kaspar and played beautifully. An amazing evening.
So is GiG the hangout for all the cool cats in Santa Fe? The concert sounded very nice. “Devastating percussionist”…hmm…
That’s it! I’m moving to Santa Fe.
Amazing is the evening fired by soul and ear’s and rythm !
And in being a fan , friend , child , artist , painting pictures for all!
Zens aglow!
Adam: my dictionary says: devastating = extremely impressive
Unbelievable ability and sensitivity. Must see!
I’m right behind you Matt!
Wow what a show! Souhail Kaspar is the master.
Matt and Luz, I will join you!
I am right behind you guys…
Australian coastline is being washed away and eventually we will have to move to higher ground, Santa Fe sounds like a perfect place. ;-)
Sounds like a wonderful show. Rahim’s concert in DC last year was also packed. The Smithsonian website has another short video of both musicians here: http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/sgs_live.aspx#Mideast – second link under Mideast.