"A is for Allah" by Yusuf
I love musicals, and those of you who also do may have heard of Bombay Dreams. It was written by A.R. Rahman and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber in 2003. It did pretty well in the U.K., but American audiences did not take to it at all (I never saw it, though). It follows a man who lives in a slum in Bombay and falls in love with a wealthier man's fiancee. There is definitely a Bollywood quality to the music, costumes, sets, and dancing. This is the song "Salaam Bombay." There are Western and Indian instruments, a lot of percussion, and most of the lyrics are in English. The singers' vocal timbre are less nasal than the ones we heard in other Bollywood songs. It's a really cool song, so enjoy!
"Salaam Bombay" from Bombay Dreams
I thought it was so interesting when we learned in class that they traditionally hold the violin differently in India than we do here in the U.S. I found a video of Jayadevan playing the violin in this way. Notice how he slides around the notes and uses different posture than we do in the Western world. It's amazing how he uses the same instrument that we are used to but creates such different sounds.
Emily, thanks for sharing! The "A is for Allah" video was interesting. Like you said, the mixture between the Western and Middle Eastern culture was very prevalent. The singer's timbre was definitely a bit Western, but the style in which he sang really reminded me of the Quran recitations. Also, "Salaam Bombay" was awesome! The guy who composed that with Weber also did the music for Slumdog Millionaire. :)
ReplyDeleteThe first clip made me happy. :) It was like the ABC's, and who doesn't love that song? "Salaam Bombay" was a great example of Western and Eastern traditions melding together. I'm really surprised it didn't catch on in the United States. I also agree with how interesting it is that different cultures adapt instruments to suit their musical style. I wonder what borrowed instruments we use "incorrectly?"
ReplyDeleteI grew up with the story of Cat Stevens and the music he produced, but I'd never heard A is for Allah. Thank you for sharing that!
ReplyDeleteI really liked Salaam Bombay. I'm a huge musical fan, but I'd never heard of it before.
Thank you for the violin video, Emily--I may need to use it in class next year as a demonstration. And would you believe that we drove by Cat Stevens' house when we were in Amman, Jordan last spring? I've always loved "Peace Train," and I remember all the brohaha when 10,000 Maniacs recorded it for a CD and then got flack for it because of Cat's conversion. In the end, they left the song on the CD but erased it from the CD jacket.
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