We are in the midst of The Checkout’s fundraising efforts. So we wanted to bring you something special. Here are two interview sessions, almost lost, and rehabilitated for the occasion. The two phenomenal guests: Knower's Genevieve Artadi and jazz nay flutist, Faris Ishaq.
First, Artadi speaks with me (onstage from Jazz Middelheim in Belgium in 2019) about her brilliant creative partnership with Louis Cole, her labelmate on the Brainfeeder label. She provides insight into what makes their art so potent, and the genesis moment that sparked their viral activity online, including the amusing backstory behind their first video, "Like A Storm," made over a decade ago.
It should be noted that Artadi continues to make compellingly eccentric films with or without Cole. She routinely ropes in another core collaborator, Pedro Martins. Here’s a concert film in celebration of her solo recording debut, A Dizzy Strange Summer. She dubs it a Racecar Bed Mini-Set.
Then, on another edition of My Music, Berklee Global Jazz Institute’s Faris Ishaq tells his fascinating story being the world's first self-proclaimed jazz nay flute artist. Growing up in Palestine, he was introduced to the ancient flute by his uncle after being stung by a bee. As a precocious 12-year-old, he describes being able to make sound on the difficult and arcane woodwind. From that moment, he says the instrument "chose him." He guides us on his debut recording journey in Tripolarity. It's a mystical-sounding album that combines his nay flute mastery with his other vocation: music therapy. Watch him perform solo nay flute and percussion on "Thoth's Messengers."
