UCLA Ethnomusicologist on Arab Classical Sounds
Racy explains pleasures of a musical tradition to the Kansas City Star.
In its Oct. 19, 2006, edition, the Kansas City Star profiled Arab classical musicians Simon Shaheen and Ali Jihad Racy, who is a UCLA professor of ethnomusicology. The two are set to perform in a Lawrence, Kansas, concert venue.
According to the article, "Arab music is so enormously complex that it takes a lifetime to learn its system of maqam (the Arab equivalent of Western 'modes,' or keys), of taqasim improvisation and of tarab — the last described as a transcendent state achieved during performance."
Published: Thursday, October 19, 2006
