Monday, May 4, 2015

"Crying Shame" @ The Berklee College of Music



"Crying Shame" (prod. by Sandhill) | Recorded LIVE @ the Berklee College of Music on April 22, 2015

I had the pleasure of spending a week in Boston recently at the invitation of Professor Dan Cantor (Notable Productions). Not only did I get the opportunity to record at his incredible "home studio" (I put that in quotes because his entire house is literally rigged for recording live music from the basement to the attic), but I also got to speak in over a half-dozen classes at Berklee - on a number of topics ranging from Hip-Hop songwriting in Professor Raydar Ellis' class, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Professor Sheila Katz' class, and "The Future of Music" with Professor Isaiah Jackson.

This was my second time visiting Berklee thanks to Dan, and the level of talent at that institution never ceases to amaze me. One such student was Sarouna - a young Palestinian from Jerusalem (whose principle instrument is the Qanun) - who joined Dan & I during a radio interview at The Birn where we performed an acoustic version of my track "Superhero" with her on the Qanun & Dan on the Udu Drum. We also ended the week with an unforgettable recording session at Berklee's state of the art Studio 3 aka "The Bridge" - with student musicians recreating a new song of mine called "Close My Eyes" live with drums, bass, piano, guitar, qanun, and two vocalists.

I should also thank the Islamic Society of Harvard for inviting me to perform during their annual Open Mic / Poetry Slam event on Sunday April 19th, and Harvard Professor Hisham Mahmoud for inviting me to speak in his 2nd Level Arabic class that week as well.

Always love visiting Boston (in the Spring) and I am already looking forward to the next visit!

Sinsyrianly

- Omar

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