#4692, Layale Chaker and Sarafand, "Radio Afloat" from The Greene Space

The violinist and composer Layale Chaker was born in Lebanon but now lives in New York, and her music often blends Arab and Western classical sounds together with jazz. She combines chamber music instruments: her violin, along with piano, cello, double-bass, and hand percussion with the forms, rhythm, and structure of Arabic sung poetry; improvisation also plays a key role, as in Arab classical music or jazz. Chaker is part of the Artist Propulsion Lab, a project from our classical music station WQXR that supports emerging and mid-career artists. As part of that program, listen to the world premiere for  radio of her new piece in The Greene Space, called "Radio Afloat", which is about the relationship between humans and the natural world. Sarafand is Layale Chaker, Violin; Phillip Golub, Keyboard; John Hadfield, Percussion; Sam Minaie, Bass; Jake Charkey, Cello. 

Chaker’s “Radio Afloat” is a reflection and a commentary on the ebb and flow of politics of power and conflict that further the vulnerability of the land and those who tend to it. Conceived as a suite of intersecting movements, it echoes “The Trace of Blue Passion,” a poem by Lebanese author Ounsi el-Hage:

“… And just as birds flock wisely
I trekked from ocean to ocean
From peak to branch
From night to night to night
Until I was hit
With the prestige of sweet madness.
After we witnessed the extent of birds’ wisdom
I remind you that it is in the nature of creatures
To harm themselves.
I was a turtle on the rocks
Engraved on tree trunks and bolsters
Engraved on rings
Engraved on the ankles of mountains.
And I saw space
So I saw space
And when I saw its beauty, I fell in love with a dove who carried me.
And when she smelled, adoringly, the earth on me
She laid me down in the soil
And from the dove I raised myself…”
(translated from Arabic by Sara Elkamel)

 [courtesy of The Greene Space website]

Program #4692, Layale Chaker and Sarafand, "Radio Afloat" from The Greene Space (First aired 12/12/22)

ARTIST: Layale Chaker & Sarafand
WORK: Mkhammas Suite - II Frah Al Donniyeh [1:01]
RECORDING: Inner Rhyme
SOURCE: In a Circle Records
INFO: layalechaker.com/music

ARTIST: Layale Chaker & Sarafand
WORK: Radio Afloat, Part 1 [13:24]
RECORDING: Live, from The Greene Space, Nov. 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: layalechaker.com/music

ARTIST: Layale Chaker & Sarafand
WORK: Radio Afloat, , Conclusion "Backburn" [9:15]
RECORDING: Live, from The Greene Space, Nov. 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: layalechaker.com/music

Watch the entire concert: