MazaJ and Cafe Oto present an incursion into the frequency politics of the Middle East, a pre-echo of the MazaJ festival of experimental arabic music to come later this year.

Raz Mesinai (aka Badawi) is passing briefly through the London ether, and will present a rare solo live set. On the same bill, the duo of Seth Ayyaz and Amira Ghazalla present “makharej” and improvisations on cut-up text by Mahmoud Darwish.

www.mazaj.co.uk

Raz Mesinai - solo set
"String Quartet For Four Turntables"
is a composition for string quartet (comprised of 2 violins, 1 viola, and 1 cello), with each instrument recorded separately in the studio and then pressed onto 12" vinyl.
The 12"s are played by 2 dj's who each have 2 copies of the 12"s and 2 turntables. It was first performed by Dj Olive and Dj Toshio Kajiwara at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City in 2000 but was never recorded or released until now. Mesinai insisted on letting the vinyl sit, uncovered, for 9 years (so that the crackles and pops would be more present) before finally re-recording the piece. Recent performers have included Marina Rosenfeld and Phillip Jeck. In this version Mesinai performs it himself, focusing on the tuning of the turntables, creating intense dissonant textures.
"Sour Mash" by George Lewis and Marina Rosenfeld and a new work with Oren Ambarchi and Vladislav Delay.

Biography:
www.razmesinai.com <http://www.razmesinai.com/> (New York, USA)
Composer, producer and sound alchemist Raz Mesinai makes music at the intersection of Dub and modern composition. As a solo artist and with his ensembles, he creates mythic performances evoking ancient rhythms with electronics, acoustic instruments and turntables. His recordings as Badawi have placed him on the forefront of the experimental electronic scene for over a decade, with remixes contributed by such artists as Kode 9, Shackleton, DJ Spooky and Headhunter, and Badawi remixes of Burning Spear, Arto Lindsay and Shackleton. He’s been a fixture of the downtown New York improvised music scene as well since the late nineties, collaborating with such luminaries as John Zorn, Mark Dresser, Elliott Sharp, DJ Olive and many others.

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Seth Ayyaz and Amira Ghazalla - duo set
makharej | live
“….in the emptiness, I disassembled a letter from one of the ancient alphabets, and I leaned on absence…….”

from In Her Absence I Created Her Image by Mahmoud Darwish


makharej (meaning “exitings” or “articulations”) is a live electronics and vocal exploration of the sonic latencies within the dis/embodiment of the arabic alphabet.

This project has found possible extensions, and the duo will investigate “I don’t sleep lest I dream” by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish as a starting point for improvised reconfiguration.


Biographies:
Seth Ayyaz (live electronics, objects, nay flute, daf drum)
www.sethayyaz.com <http://www.sethayyaz.com/> (London, UK)
Composer-performer whose work spans live electronics, free improvisation, arabic musics, noise and electroacoustics. In parallel with an islamic music heritage, he found himself living in the aftermath of punk, industrial-noise, and post-rave culture. At present his main interest is improvising with other listening machines, human or otherwise. Projects include work with live artist Franko B, Filastine, DJ/Rupture, the Badawi remix bahr el dumu' (The Ocean of Tears), and the collaborative Automatic Writing Circle with composer Thomas Gardener.

Amira Ghazalla (vocalisations)
(Cairo, egypt) is an artist working across media and forms. For more than two decades, researching, studying and teaching ancient forms of expression & rituals, this understanding of physical heritage and orally transmitted knowledge is present in her work in theatre and dance. She has recently played in Plan D by Hannah Khalil at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London.