John Erlich - 1-21-2009 at 04:18 PM
Hi East Bay Oud Fans,
Please stop by Zaki Kabob House, the best Arabic restaurant in the Bay Area, 6:00 - 8:30 PM, Saturday, January 24 to be entertained by yours truly.
I will be playing taqasim, Arabic folk songs, and Ottoman Classical repertoire to enhance your dining experience.
Zaki Kabob House
1101 San Pablo Ave. (cor. Dartmouth St.)
Albany, CA 94706
(510) 527-5452
Best of all is the price: FREE (and worth every penny!)
Here is the restaurant's web page: http://zakimedcuisine.com/
Read Reviews:
Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/zaki-kabob-house-albany
Chow.com: http://www.chow.com/places/40757
Urban Spoon: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/6/1414468/restaurant/Zaki-Kabob-House-A...
I may be playing solo or accompanied by an excellent Arabic percussionist -- still TBD...will post when I know which.
Peace,
Udi John
Amer - 1-21-2009 at 04:23 PM
Great, wish you a fun and successful evening 
I'm passing this on to my oud loving friends in the bay area!
John Erlich - 1-23-2009 at 09:29 AM
I will be playing solo. Arabic percussionist #1 has another gig that night. Arabic percussionist #2 is out of the country. 
I met a local Persian man (Albany has a large Persian community) yesterday at my "day job." I told him about the gig, and he said he wanted to
attend. Since his name is "Homayoon," I (rather rashly) promised to play him a taqsim in maqam/dastgah Homayun. I think I have a handle on it,
though: Like maqam Hejaz, but with the second degree 2.5 - 3 cents flatted, instead of a fully flatted half-step above the tonic.
Salaam/Shalom/Shlama/Khoda Hafez,
"Udi" John
John Erlich - 1-23-2009 at 12:36 PM
Flyer attached...
FYI: I will wear galabiya/tarboush ONLY if the restaurant owners request me to!
stringmanca - 1-23-2009 at 12:48 PM
You look very authentic - I'm sure they will request that you dress to match the flyer! Is this a one-time gig or will you be playing there
regularly?
Unfortunately, I will be out of the area on Saturday, but best wishes! I hope they feed you!
Nathan
John Erlich - 1-25-2009 at 08:47 PM
Hi All,
All in all, it went well. The (small) restaurant was pretty crowded. The customers seemed to appreciate the music. The owners paid me a little
extra and comped the meal not only for me, but for my family, too. Also, most of the diners seemed to appreciate the food, which goes beyond the
usual hummous and falafel "mezze" repertoire.
I am hoping to do this fairly regularly (once a month?) on Saturday nights, hopefully with Faisal Zedan or Bouchaib Abdelhadi. (Here is Faisal
performing with my teacher Naser Musa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrS-R34fYWk&feature=related ; here is Bouchaib doing his regular thing performing Nashid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wwU_iOb--A )
Great to see you there, Jaron!
Peace,
John
jaron - 1-30-2009 at 09:51 AM
was a great pleasure to hear and see you playing - your music was joyful - the amplified maurice oud sounded great in the room- wonderful restaurant
too- sweet family runs it-
paulO - 1-30-2009 at 12:54 PM
Hey man,
Glad the job went well -- Faisal and Bouchaib are both excellent, it's got to be a blast working with them. Hope to make it down there to check it
out.
Regards...Paul
John Erlich - 1-30-2009 at 01:16 PM
Hi Jaron -- thanks for your kind words! I have never heard a pickup on oud that worked better than Najarian's.
Hi Paul -- hope to see you soon, one way or another! The food at Zaki is certainly worth the trip! Faisal has already performed there once with
Rumen Shopov. The owners took a grainy video with their cell phone. If it's still up, I'll post a link.
Peace,
John
oudplayer - 1-30-2009 at 01:24 PM
Hey john
awesome glad to hear it went well for ya!.
thx sammy