Volume 23 Issue 6 - March 2018

them that I might not necessarily be able to do without them, in that
I can do more maqam … They just bring out another set of references
that I have been working with in my solo stuff. In terms of the
more Arabic, Egyptian sounds… it’s a little bit more foreign for a lot
of the members of Kush to completely dive into that, so I think with
Nadah and Maurice I was more free to write music that I knew, and
in particular [music that] Nadah would be able to sing, because she’s
used to singing stuff like that.
You’ve said about modern Egyptian classical ensembles that, even
though they incorporate a fair number of Western sounds or Western
instruments, they’re not exactly fusion ensembles; that they’re
taking from other practices in order to evolve from within, to grow of
their own volition. I was wondering if that’s an accurate description
of Land of Kush, and what you think about the terms “fusion” and
“world music.”
ALAN CHIES
16th
annual
Nadah El Shazly
and Maurice Louca
I think that the important thing is to do something that feels somewhat
natural, and feels somewhat right. So I think that, in terms of
the fusions, or the music, whatever I do obviously my Egyptian background
and my Arabic background is a big part of it. But it’s not the
only thing.
I think, basically, you have to have something interesting to say. It
doesn’t necessarily have to be earth-shatteringly meaningful, but it
should be something that at least for you, as a writer or as a musician,
is interesting. And I think that requires delving into yourself, delving
into why you would even have anything to say. And so to say that
what I’m doing is fusion, or is world music, at this point, I don’t really
care if people describe it as that. There’s stuff that I’ll do that sounds
like it could be Western music, or stuff that I do that sounds like it’s
completely Arabic music. I think the interesting thing for me is how to
tap into something that is a synthesis of all that, that is already in myself
or in an individual, and that feels or sounds not contrived, to myself and
to whoever else is involved in it, or is listening to it.
I definitely need something to say … there has to be some reason.
Hence the space between Kush pieces, why there’s a certain number of
years between the pieces, and why we almost never do the same piece
more than twice. We almost never perform these pieces more than once
or twice, because I think they are kind of something that I need to do,
as opposed to something that I feel like I should be doing.
And so that’s what it is. It’s sort of a re-engagement with who I am, as
a writer, as a musician, a person, whatever; and trying to do that every
time, if that makes sense. I don’t know if that makes sense (laughs).
Absolutely, it makes sense. Ultimately it doesn’t matter how
someone else might describe it, what you’re trying to do is to create
something that feels honest and relevant to you as an individual.
Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly. And so those elements are there
because those are interests that I have. They’re not conscious. If they
were, it would be something that I would be less interested in.
Colin Story is a jazz guitarist, writer, and teacher
based in Toronto. He can be reached at www.colinstory.com,
on Instagram and on Twitter.
thewholenote.com March 2018 | 15