samaduo profile picture

samaduo

Sama Duo

About Me

Sama’ Duo (Mustafa Stefan Dill, Jefferson Voorhees): transcultural improvisations
Beyond the status quo of many world music projects, the Sama’ Duo’ retains an improvisational focus, uniquely combining a deep core of cutting-edge and ancient improvising methods within the musical traditions of India and and the Middle East.
Delving behind the scales and notes, the group reaches into the inner architectures of form and method from the established traditions, adding their previous experience as post-modern improvisors to the process.
From this inner anchor, the group forges a distinct sound: the improvised rhythmic solo "jor" form in traditional Indian classical music is extended to include percussion, based on the Duo’s musical telepathy; Middle Eastern maqams may develop as ragas and vice-versa; melodies float through on rhythms from India, d’n’b , funk and bhangra; and it may all be nestled within forms based on Persian ensemble, Indian classical, or Qawwali structures.
The group takes as its name a nuanced Arabic term that describes the spectrum of relationships between intense listening, sprituality, and music-making itself.
The Duo was recently chosen to provide the music score for the independent film "Birth of a Pillow" by director Sharmy Pandey, from Kolkata, India. The film is a 47 minute feature with no dialogue, requiring a continuous music score that would amplify and emotionally detail the story to a very high degree.
Another avenue the Duo is exploring is a more aggressive bhangra/jazz/funk/art-rock project, with the fretless electric guitar as its main focus. Click here for some early demos of this direction.
Buy merch from Sama’ Duo at www.zazzle.com/norumba

[ Copy this widget to your profile ] [ Create your own merch booth ]

Subscribe in a reader







Myspace Layouts at Pimp-My-Profile.com / Black and blue, modified

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 9/21/2007
Band Website: norumba.com
Band Members: Mustafa Stefan Dill (sarod, fretless guitar, oud) is well known in the area for his guitar, sarod, and oud work, leading a variety of his own ensembles as well as playing in mJane, Out of Context, Zevk Ensemble, and others. He has peformed solo concerts at numerous improvised music, jazz, and guitar festivals, including FMP's Total Music Meeting, Wirral Guitar Festival, Paderborn Guitar Festival, Zuid Nederlands Jazz Festival, and others.

Jefferson Voorhees ( tabla, naal, tar) resides in Albuquerque and is one of the regions most versatile and sought after percussionists. His resume includes such projects as the Tom Guralnick Trio, Bayou Seco, Stove, and Out of Context, among many others. His time spent in India studying music and percussion (as well as his performances with Iraqi oudist Rahim Alhaj) adds some particularly unique qualifcations for the project.
Influences: Amjad Ali Khan, A.R. Rahman, Zakir Hussain, Dhrupad, Asha Bhosle, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Cecil Taylor, Harry Partch, John Coltrane
Sounds Like: This is not your typical world-music-samples-with-new-age-synth-pads-and-a-drum-progr am.

While often serene, it is by no means placid. The degree of dialogue and improvisational interplay, the unpredictable journeys the Duo travels to, draws the listener in, inviting one to fully engage, rather than just passively listen.
Record Label: Norumba
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Film Shoot Part Of Hookah Gig This Friday

We're back again for a late show at Hunab Hookah this Friday at 10 pm. this Friday at 10 pm...We'll be filming also, as we're the subject of a documentary project being done, so come and be a part of ...
Posted by samaduo on Wed, 07 May 2008 12:48:00 PST

Three Videos

While the sound quality is from the camera -- and the lighting dark -- we have three videos from the last gig at Hunab Hookah, including oud and fretless guitar/ drum set performances, which we didn't...
Posted by samaduo on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:23:00 PST

Check out this video: Viraha (electric version)

Check out this video: Viraha (electric version) ..Add to My Profile | More Videos...
Posted by samaduo on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:27:00 PST

repertoire explored; the quest for tone

After two Hookah gigs, the explorations continue as Jefferson and I drill down in late night rehearsals, trying to find what works and what doesnt...It all works to a degree, but works better? Existin...
Posted by samaduo on Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:12:00 PST

hunabness

gig was great, but attendance still not fabulous...Jefferson’s brother took a lot of footage, so Im happy to have fretless/drum set material documented. Looking forward to looking it over. Ill h...
Posted by samaduo on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:35:00 PST

Sama Duo at Hunab Hookah Sunday

We’ve been shedding and putting it together - it gets more and more intriguing with every rehearsal. My sister is taking some interview footage she shot ,along with the Body footage from last ...
Posted by samaduo on Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:57:00 PST

do it again

The gig at Hunab Hookah went well -- great vibe and atmosphere, and proprietor Brian is the best. Turnout a little slow on a rainy night, but we will be back on March 16th, Sunday, at 8:30 -- do come...
Posted by samaduo on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:44:00 PST

where it goes

We're still rehearsing and documenting the new direction of the Duo, but Im doing a lot of woodshedding on my own. I ve been recording some of that as well -- the first time i've really recorded solo ...
Posted by samaduo on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:09:00 PST

fretless - drum kit update

Jefferson and i have been rehearsing, getting used to the new instrumentation. Its coming together, we're finding our way in this new sea of timbres. i ve dialed in some good tones on the effects bo...
Posted by samaduo on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:38:00 PST

My Daughter and Tagore

My young daughter Sofi's latest fascination,apart form Bollywood, is a DVD of various song clips - some from old movies and some produced for TV it appears - of Tagore songs.I discovered Tagore right...
Posted by samaduo on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:09:00 PST