Mixing Jazz and Arabic Music | Tarek Yamani

In this afikra podcast episode, we chat with self-taught Jazz pianist and award-winning composer about high-Art music and tradition, keeping a balance between Jazz piano and Arabic music, and finding inspiration in Khaleeji desert and Afro-Tarab music. We discuss the limitations of the piano and Western music systems, playing Sharqi music instruments, music he enjoys listening to and how he chooses musicians to perform with on his travels. 0:00 Intro 3:19 How Tarek Got Into Music and Jazz 5:49 High-Art Music and Tradition 8:57 Mixing Jazz Piano with Arabic Music and Finding a Balance Between the Two 11:36 “Dance of the Infidels” 14:40 Infusing Levantine with Khaleeji Sounds 16:00 What Inspires Tarek About the Khaleeji Desert and Afro-Tarab Music 20:21 Reception of Tarek’s Music in Different Countries and Finding Players and Musicians 23:30 Herbie Hancock: The New Standard 26:56 Practicing and How It Shifted With Time 30:00 Tarek’s Background and Music He Used To Listen To 35:26 Self-discovery and Identity 38:10 Creativity and Having a Clear Mind 41:10 Intentionality 42:56 Audience Q&A: Where Tarek Is Heading Next 44:54 Audience Q&A: Aks'ser 47:00 Audience Q&A: Dance Music Tarek Listens To 50:05 Audience Q&A: The Limitation of the Piano and Western Music Systems and Playing Sharqi Music Instruments 53:36 Audience Q&A: Tarek’s Escape and Where He Finds Refuge 55:43 Audience Q&A: Tarek’s Experience in Berlin 1:00:56 Tarek’s Music Tarek Yamani is a self-taught Jazz pianist and award-winning composer. He is critically acclaimed for his work on Lisan Al Tarab: Jazz Conceptions in Classical Arabic, and is the winner of the "Thelonious Monk Jazz Composers Competition". He has performed in prestigious venues such as the United Nations assembly hall during the inaugural of the Jazz Day in NYC. Connect with Tarek 👉   / tarek_yamani   Theme music: "Peninsular", Tarek Yamani 👉:   / tarek_yamani   🔊: https://spoti.fi/47I59ns Hosted by: Mikey Muhanna, afikra Founder & Executive Director 👉:   / mikey_mu   Ahmed Shihab-Eldin 👉:   / ahmedeldin   FOLLOW & RATE THE AFIKRA PODCAST: » Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/lb/podcast... » Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5nafoF1... » Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014... THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK Explore all episodes in this series:    • 🎙️ The afikra Podcast   ABOUT AFIKRA afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity. 📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters 🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts ⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership 🔗 Instagram:   / afikra_   🔗 Facebook:   / afikra.official   🔗 Twitter:   / afikra   #afikra #tarekyamani #jazz