Is There a Sound That's Unique to Arab America? | Ronnie Malley
Multi-instrumentalist musician and musicologist Ronnie Malley shares his immense knowledge of Arabic classical music, touring us through the fundamentals of the musical canon and the sounds, songs and rhythms that define it. He tells us about his early exposure to Arabic music in Chicago playing for his father's bands, through thousands of wedding performances, to building a career alongside some of the biggest names in Arabic music. We learn about the history of Arabic music from Al-Andalus, the Ottoman Empire and all the way to India, and how Ronnie seeks to bring these sounds together in his own Arab-American context. To round the interview off, he shares some of the best Arab musicians that we should all be listening to.
Ronnie Malley is a Palestinian-American multi-instrumentalist musician on oud, guitar, keys, and percussion, a music producer, theater maker, and educator. He is also executive director of Intercultural Music Production. Malley’s professional work and academic research focuses on cultures and various musical styles from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and medieval Spain.
Connect with Ronnie on Instagram.
QuarterTones
This podcast series hosts current Arab musicians from different geographies, who play contemporary and modern music, including folk, pop, rock, hip-hop, electronic, classical, among other genres. Discover some of the most interesting work across the region and genres, and understand the music that these experts perform or study.
