Aziz Maraka had a vision of performing "razz" music: a combination of rock, Arabian and jazz melodies.

'Razz' blends rock, Arabian, jazz music

By: Wes Putt, Staff Writer

Posted: 5/3/06

Aziz Maraka came to the UA two and a half years ago with a vision. Now six years in the making, the musical concept of "Razz" will be presented to a live audience for the first time tonight, free to UA students and faculty. Razz, which is a blend of rock, jazz and Arabian music, is not just a new form of music for Maraka. It is a plea for unity among people of all cultures and faiths.

Maraka's invention took time and hard work. During the six years of development, Maraka practiced jazz, played with rock bands, and performed with purely Arabian instruments. His band consists of a string quartet, bass and electric guitar, percussions, trumpet and Oud, the Arabic equivalent of the lute. Maraka performs vocals and plays piano. "It took me seven months to put all these musicians together," Maraka said, including a non-UA student who "is an amazing musician, and could understand my ideas and the Arabic beats.

"I had to practice with each section as if we were playing their style in the show," Maraka said, "then I combined all of them together." All seven songs are original works, six of which are sung in Arabic with one in English.

In order to incorporate a string quartet into the Razz performance, "I had to write every single note for them with small details including dynamics and effects," Maraka said, "putting them with the rest of the musicians was hard, but it worked out great.

"Musically, the reason I came up with this style is because I noticed that a lot of rock or jazz musicians fail to feel jazz the way they should," Maraka said, "or [that] Arabs fail to feel rock ... Razz gives the chance to anyone to apply whatever they got from their background in this musical style."

While Razz is cultured from three different genes of music, the influences of the band come from all over, Maraka said. "As for myself, I am influenced by Arabic music, [which is] very expressive."

After living in Tunisia until age 10, Maraka moved to Amman, Jordan. Maraka later came to the United States to find that people are all the same.

"I get the American humor," Maraka said. "People get my humor.

"We try so hard to fit into categories and find the differences between us, especially Arabs and Americans," Maraka said, "I don't see the difference except for small cultural details that simply have to do with where we live and what our great fathers came up with through commonalities.

"We are a new generation full of hope," Maraka said, "and simply don't want to fight."

Maraka feels good about the future after living in America, he said. "My plan with Razz is to show the world that Americans and Arabs can sit in one band and play one song and feel the same way about it.

"As for the listeners ... Americans and Arabs listen to the band and both say 'I just got goose bumps.' That is why I know this is going to work, and I have no doubt."

The Razz concert tonight will be a rare event, but Maraka is working to spread the word. "I will be talking to the American Embassy and Jordanian Government," Maraka said, "and I will be talking to producers to tell them to get involved in this message that I am trying to spread."

The message, however, should not be an academic or political message that only reaches intellectuals, Maraka said. "It has to be a popular message - that's the idea of Razz - and that's the idea of starting it from Arkansas, USA.

"There are so many reasons for people to attend the show," Maraka said. "One hour of their time will make a big difference in the world, and certainly a change within the audience itself.

"The bigger the audience, the more we can show the world that this is working out - that I can show the [American] Embassy and Jordanian government that this is a serious message."

Razz premiers at 7 p.m. tonight at the Union Ballroom.