MFAH | Artful Thursday: High Notes – Thursday, September 15, 2011 @ 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM.
Billie Holiday’s wavy intonation has its roots in the muezzin’s call to prayer. The syncopated riffs and rhythms of blues guitar legend John Lee Hooker echo a traditional call-and-response, with painful lyrics about life, love, and faith. The be-bop and cool-jazz improvisations of John Coltrane are informed by numerous musical and meditative traditions, including those of Islam. Also indebted to this tradition are the folk rock of Steve Earle and the hip-hop of Mos Def. In this month’s Artful Thursday lecture, Hussein Rashid uses music to explore how the Muslim-American community has made a lasting cultural contribution to American music.