Category Archives: music

A Complete Dip in the Ocean (and how to get it)

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Ian Whiteman

“Some of the great spiritual music of the world, rarely heard but strangely familiar – its thousand year-old tradition must have influenced a Northern Europe coming out of the dark ages -played and sung here by today’s greatest exponents,this is … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music, religion, tassawuf | 7 Comments

Ancient Prophets of Arabia

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Ian Whiteman

Following my tradition of announcing books I have worked on, here is a big one. Dr. Mostafa Badawi, (a medical doctor of Egyptian origin), practices as a psychiatrist in a hospital in Medina and is hidden away in that wonderful … Continue reading →

Posted in architectural, language, miscellaneous, music, Publishing, religion, typography / design | 4 Comments

LOL

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

Since starting this blog I know how jounalists feel who have to keep a weekly column going week after week, inspiration or no inspiration. So that they end up filling their columns with anything they can muster and often revert … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Goose pimples in Sarajevo

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

Today’s post is a special treat which I hope you can share with your friends. You will find here an (edited) chapter from my very own as yet unpublished bio (Average Whiteman) about a concert in Sarajevo fourteen years ago in … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Maqamats, Sacred Geometry and the Celestial Worlds

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

For years I have tried to understand what the maqams are (or maqamats, known as nawbas in Morocco) and I hope these few words here don’t confuse things further. In these posts I have always sought out subjects where the global homogenisation … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music, typography / design | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Write it! Sing it!

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

Where I live there are so many alternative therapies on offer up and down our valley. They include such things as underwater ti-chi to sacral osteopathy, magnet therapy, raw food cults etc., and many you have never heard of before. … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music, typography / design | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The curse of the PA

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

The theme of this post is one that has really bothered me for some time and just how to get into has meant delaying its publication for some weeks. On the surface it appears a rather trivial subject but the … Continue reading →

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The silken curtain call

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

When the singer Amy Winehouse died recently it brought out the usual hypocrisy from the world’s media but largely hid the real tragedy that underpins such happenings. I didn’t know Amy’s music at all – wrong generation – but her … Continue reading →

Posted in music | 3 Comments

Learn Diwan tunes

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

This post is for people who are familiar with or interested in the Diwan of Muhammad Ibn al Habib, the great scholar and sufi master of Meknes in Morocco, who died in 1971. He left this collection of sublime poems, … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music | 1 Comment

Giving it away for free?

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

I noticed over the weekend that Brian Eno has released a new 2 CD set of music with recited/sung poetry. It covers many different media being available as a free digital download, a double vinyl album. a double CD set … Continue reading →

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