Today marks one year on earth for my youngest, our son Tijani. In the year of his birth I wrote a three-movement work for piano. The second and third movements are presented here. As with the pieces written for Tijani’s older sisters Remi and Kenza, the music here is diatonic, in the key of C… Continue reading Tijani, for piano
Category: Anniversary
Like It’s 1994/95: Uhuru
A recurring introspective retrospective of my music as it sounded twenty years earlier. In early 1994, I took my first trip to Europe, spending a week in Lyon where my music was heard at a university dance festival as well as in the subway for a pop up freestyle contemporary dance event. I spent the… Continue reading Like It’s 1994/95: Uhuru
Kenza, for piano
Today is the second birthday of my second child Kenza, firstborn to my wife Nehal El-Hadi. Just before her birth, I wrote a short three-movement work for piano dedicated to her. I have posted the first movement here. Like the work written for her older sister Remi, the music here is diatonic, in the key… Continue reading Kenza, for piano
Remi, for Piano
Today marks the seventh birthday of my older child, Aderemi. In the year of her birth I wrote a three-movement work for piano which takes the short form of her name as its title. The music is diatonic, in the key of C major/A minor throughout. It has a childlike quality to it and is… Continue reading Remi, for Piano
Best of 2013
Eve Egoyan – 5 Philip Glass – Visitors Kuniko Kato – Cantus R. Andrew Lee – November Laura Mvula – Sing to the Moon Omar – The Man Quadron – Avalanche Thundercat – Apocalypse Hans Zimmer – Man of Steel Best archive/reissue: Sly and the Family Stone – Higher!
I. Pathology (Black Mood)
It’s the eve of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and MLK’s “I Have a Dream.” It is a media event but more importantly a reminder and celebration of the prime meridian on the map, so to speak, of our era. In an age of spectacular technological innovations and creative visions, these words… Continue reading I. Pathology (Black Mood)
Birthday Music
Today would have been the 85th birthday of my father Samuel Lawrence (Larry) Russell. He died two months short of his 65th, so this year is also the twentieth anniversary of his passing. Although as a transracial adoptee I have travelled on an outlying cultural path from that of my adoptive family, they are the original… Continue reading Birthday Music
Queen Peace
Today is Philip Glass’ birthday, my birthday and also the birthday of my first child, Aderemi. In honour of the last celebrant, I’m posting a piece from a suite I wrote for her in the year of her birth. Aderemi is a Yoruba name and translates “the crown brings peace.” This is a very simple,… Continue reading Queen Peace
Kenza’s 40 Days
Our daughter has been with us 40 days, which is a significant milestone in Islam. The number 40 appears a great deal in the literature of all the Abrahamic religions. “Fourths + Fifths” is the first movement of the three-movement work Kenza (2012). It is structured around a sequence of six diatonic modes, each associated… Continue reading Kenza’s 40 Days
Dream Decade
Tuesday, September 11, 1991 (Journal entry) My late grandfather was actually Igor Stravinsky with a changed identity. He did not die in 1971 but continued on in a secret life. When he did eventually pass away in 1986 (as my grandfather did in real life), I was shocked to learn his true identity and was… Continue reading Dream Decade
EL MAHBOOB 