Slim Gaillard's Yep Roc Heresy, the first Jazz Song in Arabic

Food is always an amazing inspiration. Just learned about the great Slim Gaillard today and loved Yep Roc Heresy.

From Wikipedia:
Arabic is sprinkled about Gaillard's songs. The song "Yep-Roc-Heresy" 3:07 - 1945 is a good example. This song is made up almost entirely of Arabic food names. The title of the song is taken from the first two words of the song, which are "yabraq" or in Arabic "يبرق" (pronounced "يبرأ" "yabra'" in the Levant, and mostly in northern parts of today's Syria), which is another name for the Turkish Dolma or stuffed grape leaves. The second word is "[harisseh]," which is a sweet desert made from semolina flour - recipe.

Other Arabic words used in the song are: Burghal (burghal), Mahshi (stuffed), kibbeh siniyyeh (kibbe in a tray), anna biddi (I want), Masari bahh (No money), banadoura (tomato), ruzz (rice), eidi maksura (I am broke), Arak (Arabic: عرق [ʕaraq]) (a liquorice liquor), lahame mishwie (grilled meat), basal (onion).

This may be the first jazz song in Arabic. Some say he was reading from a menu of an Arabic restaurant, but this does not explain for his use of phrases such as, "no money" or "I am broke."

In the 1940s, the song was "banned in the radio for being suggestive", for its suspicious lyric references to drugs and crime.

The actual origin from these phrases comes from his time living in Detroit. He was out of money by the time he made it to Detroit and was turned down a job at Ford. An Armenian woman named Rose Malhalab (last name indicates connection to Aleppo, Syria) took Slim in, where he lived in the basement of her and her husband's beauty shop on Woodward Avenue. She cooked much Arabic food for him, explaining Slim's entire song.

Blvck America + Bidoun present Vintage Short Films

This Sunday join Blvck America and the folks at Bidoun to check out some awesome vintage short films from the Middle East. This is the last of the Liberty Hall screenings at the Ace Hotel for January. Not only is the screening free, but they'll have DJs spinning and a drink special for folks who get there early.

Sunday, January 30th
7PM
Liberty Hall at the Ace Hotel

The Suzan

The Suzan "Home" from Mr Goldbar on Vimeo.

The Suzan are a boundlessly energetic all-girl band from Japan, and director Pomp&Clout perfectly captures their colorful, kinectic approach to music with his kaleidoscopic video for "Home."

Be sure to check the free, interactive iPhone / iPad app version, allowing users to play with the kaleidoscope speed, position, angle and more themselves, while the Suzan knock out their xylophone riffs, surf guitar, and tom tom grooves.