Khyam Allami

I'm sure you noticed that I've not made any blog posts for the past few weeks. I'm terribly sorry for this lack, I've not done as good a job as I'd hoped to do on keeping to my new year's resolutions but I've just had lots of coursework to do and I was unlucky enough to get ill, so I've been lacking in time to do any blog posts.

Khyam Allami is another artist who I discovered by listening to the BBC's, World Routes - On the Road, album. I decided to feature him on this blog because I like the way in which he expressess his emotions so skillfully without using words.

Khyam Allami is an oud player, who is of Iraqi origin but was born in Damascus, Syria. He originally began his musical career as a rock musician and indeed at one point rejected his Iraqi origins to such an extent that he would not speak Arabic or play Eastern instruments. He decided to go back to his origins after the war broke out in Iraq and so this led to him learning to play the oud. His oud music is based on the concept of the Maqam, which is the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arabic music. He has an unusual technique with the Maqams that he incorporates with his highly structured and detailed compositions aswell as his abnormal cycles of rhythms. He is influenced by Arabic composers such as Naseer Shamma and rock musicians like Frank Zappa. Although he spends most of his time playing the oud, he still occasionally works as a rock musician.