ALCHEMIST

12/4/2009 10:30 PM at Ramzy & The Newscasters
435 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 02130
Cost: Always Free

Ramzy Suleiman is a pianist, vocalist and songwriter born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area. His music is born out of classic rhythm and blues, and motivated by extensive experience playing funk and jazz. The music is groove-heavy and soulful, and intellectually organized by Ramzy’s training in jazz—sort of like MMW and Otis Redding in a boxing match refereed by Thelonius Monk. This intersection of styles consistently defies classification, and Ramzy is content to move from shiny Motown bounce in “Too Bad” to the gloomy psychedelia of “Tuesday Parade” without missing a beat. His subject matter, as well, flits quickly across topics, so that he can soothe with a Sam Cooke-esque love song or flay you alive like an irate John Lennon. And nowhere is this power—to constantly shift between styles and keep the music tight and affecting—nowhere is this more evident than seeing Ramzy live. Ramzy is that type of performer that physically affects his audience. If it’s a more intimate venue, he can send chills down the spine with melodious and heart-wrenching songs. In a club? In a club, it’s foot-stomping, hip-twisting, get-off-your-bar-stool-till-you-get-knocked-back-into-it party music that demands your attention and then, once it has it, decides to teach you something. The songs are complex, jazz-infused bursts written to challenge and to energize; to get down while thinking high; to shift your perceptions while you’re shaking your hips. Your ass will be freed. Your mind, rest assured, will follow. The message of the music has always mattered just as much as the sound of it. Politics, therefore, is an essential and inescapable element of Ramzy’s music. The son of a Palestinian activist, he writes songs that are powerful without being polemic. Dialogue—in politics as in music—is fundamentally essential, and Ramzy’s songs are damn fine conversation starters. Ramzy is looking forward to the release of his debut solo album, “The News Caters Home,” this winter. He and his band, The Newscasters, will tour the east coast in support of the album from February to May. Check back to see when they’re coming to your town.