Ali Omar El-Farouk: Oud and Guitar Player and Teacher

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

02/07/23

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118m

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Ali Omar El-Farouk is an Egyptian and Canadian oud guitar player, composer and teacher. Ali plays his oud and three other instruments during this fascinating conversation in which we talked about learning from a place of joy, connecting across cultures through music, languages, architecture, Istanbul, Spain, Umm Kulthum, Nubian music, jazz, and lots more. The link for the video version and transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ali-omar-el-farouk

Support this series through my Ko-fi page! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

https://aliomarelfarouk.com/

photo: Joshua Hansen

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:01:50) Ali’s background in architectural engineering, coming to Montreal to study jazz

(00:02:57) early music lessons piano and guitar

(00:07:55) about the oud, with improvisation

(00:16:50) Ali’s time in Spain studying flamenco and introduction to “Nostalgia Esperanzadora”

(00:29:31) Ali’s composition “Nostalgia Esperanzadora” for oud and flamenco guitar

(00:38:21) vibrato and different expressive techniques on the oud, about the risha and different types of plectrums

(00:46:28) Arab architecture, Alhambra, traveling in Southern Spain

(00:52:20) learning Spanish, Turkish and communicating through music

(00:55:29) bringing musicians to Egypt, Mike de Masi, Thomas Durant, Freddy Rizk, Hamza El Din, Nubian music

(01:02:47) Umm Kulthum

(01:09:13) Ali’s musicial influences, learning Arabic music, Anouar Brahem, Simon Shaheen

(01:14:55) 2011 pro-democracy protests in Cairo

(01:21:07) different Arabic dialects, Arabic community in Montreal

(01:24:25) Turkey, trip to Istanbul

(01:29:45) album Ela Mataa, Joseph Khoury

(01:36:12) demonstration of frame drum and history of the frame drum

(01:41:08) Montreal jazz scene

(01:44:48) teaching

(01:47:21) Joseph Tawadros, Cengiz Sarikus

(01:49:26) intro to Naima by John Coltrane on electric guitar

(01:53:38) Ali’s advice about practicing and learning music

Previous Episode

Colleen Allen: Jazz musician, Multi-instrumentalist

February 4, 2023

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88m

Multi-instrumentalist Colleen Allen is a versatile and expressive performer based in Toronto, Canada. In this conversation, we talked about her perspectives on evaluating priorities, rising to new challenges, collaboration, teaching improvisation, and the physical challenges of playing so many different instruments. Colleen’s candid warmth and love of music really shine through in this wide-ranging conversation.

Please help me keep this podcast going: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Video and Transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/colleen-allen

photo: Jean-François Gratton

clip of Manteca playing "Mind Monday" used with permission, writer/composer Doug Wilde and Matt Zimbel album available: https://mantecamusic.bandcamp.com/album/monday-night-at-the-mensa-disco

Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:34) women in jazz, role models and mentors (11:38) Gloucester high school (13:26) the challenges of learning music (17:18) teaching improvisation (22:07) Women’s Blues Revue, Toronto Blues Society (25:38) learning different instruments, ergonomics and keeping fit (31:19) alto sax “If I Were a Bell” by Miles Davis (34:02) playing in big bands, playing different instruments in Manteca (35:40) clip of band Manteca playing “Mind Monday” writer/composer Doug Wilde and Matt Zimbel (37:19) Accordion, working with actors, different ways of memorizing music (44:07) stage fright, dealing with nerves, challenge state, breathwork (47:52) writing arrangements, Toronto Sax Quartet, Molly Johnson (53:19) life on tour (54:43) Jazz scene in Toronto (56:09) Cirque du Soleil Pomp Duck and Circumstance (01:01:02) solo albums Flashlight and Colleen Allen, Marc Jordan, process of recording (01:06:49) evolution of vibrato in jazz (01:08:33) pandemic, livestreams, Syncspace, Adrian Cho (01:12:40) stopping teaching, assessing priorities (01:15:33) jazz flute demo, Moe Koffman, Manteca Offspring project, Jake Koffman (01:18:50) Oliver Schroer (01:21:44) Soulpepper theatre, learning leadership (01:23:49) student days, how things are evolving in a positive way, the life of a musician

Next Episode

Ineke Vandoorn: Jazz singer, Educator, Author

February 10, 2023

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96m

Ineke Vando orn is a wonderfully expressive prizewinning jazz vocalist, author, composer and educator. We talked about overcoming voice problems, the craft of writing lyrics, teaching vocal improvisation, her book “Singing from the Inside Out”, and many of her fascinating creative collaborations.During the recording of this episode Ineke performed 3 times, and also check out the timestamps below for the many topics we covered. The link for both the video and the transcript is here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ineke-vandoorn

Be sure to check out my episode with Ineke’s partner guitarist Marc Van Vugt: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/marc-van-vugt-guitarist-and-composer

Ineke's website: https://www.inekevandoorn.com/

Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

photo: Jiri Büller

Timestamps

(00:00) Cold open and Intro

(01:34) early days with Marc van Vugt

(03:29) voice problems

(05:57) process for writing book “Singing From the Inside Out”

(14:33) song “Holysloot” by Ineke Vandoorn

(19:57) singing workshops

(21:00) project with Cecilia Moisio “I Can See Myself Through Your Eyes”