John Kameel Farah’s artist bio states that his stage show is a “hybrid of improvisation, composition and electronic music,” which only begins to describe what audiences can expect. Farah self-identifies as a “maximalist,” which in his case means a musician cramming as heterogeneous a mix as possible into any given moment. Farah works primarily on keyboards, both analog and electronic. He deploys a plethora of sounds, summoning them like a wizard leafing through a grimoire. In each piece there are moments of pulsing electronica; nods to J.S. Bach and William Byrd; puffy ambient passages sumptuous as memory foam pillows, and snatches of Arabic melodies.
Farah shares similarities with his Neue Meister label-mates like Sven Helbig, Tamar Halperin and Arash Safaian: they take familiar modes of expression and overhaul them, presenting classics in a fresh and cinematic way. It’s music the greats would write, punched up with 21st-century sounds.
John Kameel Farah, piano, synthesizers and electronics