After a   l o n g   day at work (ah, yes! - but a good, productive one), I met my dear friend, Avi at a cafe.  Having a friend like him makes a person rich.  He thinks he's not photogenic, but I snapped his picture anyway because I talk about him all the time.  I really love this guy and now you have a face to go with the stories.  While we were talking, I got a call from my friend, Jutta.  She and her husband, Per have arrived from Cairo via Amman to Jerusalem.  I will go up early in the morning to meet them.  Avi and I talked about grabbing a bus and high-tailing it up to Jerusalem this evening, but it makes more sense to let them rest up and to go in the morning.  Am I becoming sensible?

 Avi

We went to the computer lab so he could show me a video clip of undercover reporting about Hebrew University scientists doing experiments on monkeys.  Our friend, Layla showed up after having just given a talk on animal rights in one of her courses.  Neither of them are vegetarians (yet!), although Avi's mom has been whipping up some amazing vegan treats for me!  She's the best!

They walked me across campus and I talked them into coming to a concert in the Hillel series I've been attending.  The series brings together a rock singer and a paytan (a singer of traditional Jewish liturgical poetry, piyyutim).  We got there a bit early and snacked a bit.  Tonight, the performers were singer Eran Tsur (who also played guitar and bass) and paytan David Menachem (who played the ney).  They were joined by a cellist, a percussionist and a guy who played both the oud and the qanoon.  In the last concert, the paytanit came from the Yemini tradition.  Tonight's paytan was from the Iraqi Jewish community.

In the zither family, it has 78 strings and a range of 3 and a half octaves. It's usually held on the lap and 
played with a thimble (called a kushtiban) on each index finger. Into the kushtiban, the player inserts a
pick.

There is an Iraqi player, Furat Qaddori, who has a beautiful website.  http://www.furatmusic.com/qanoon.htm Scroll down to the bottom of the page for photos that really explain the instrument well.  

I would do you a huge disservice were I not to point you to a place where you could hear the instrument. Maestro Qaddori is a fine player.  He has a number of cds.  You can listen to clips on his site:  http://www.furatmusic.com/music.htm  Just click on the titles of the songs.  I heard another player of the qanoon who plays in a very untraditional style which just goes to show what a versitle instrument it is.  His name is Avshalom Farjoun and there are some clips of him on CD Baby: http://cdbaby.com/cd/farjun  He plays an instrument with 90 strings!  He was the founder of the ensemble Bustan Abraham.

For those of you who might be interested in finding out a little more about piyyutim, the tradition of sung or recited Jewish liturgical poetry, take a look at the wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piyyut or go to the wonderful Israeli site, http://www.piyut.org.il/english/ and turn your speakers on!

Tags: al-qanoon, avi, avshalom farjoun, david, eran, furat qaddori, jutta, piyyutim
Current Location: Baghdad
Current Mood: transported
Current Music: Furat Qaddori