Checking out...for good

Another rerun of the Eagles' tune on VH1 last night reminds me now of where I came in. That being the Hotel California where I was holed up for three months in 2007 courtesy of my former employers, a conflict resolution charity. In this two star benign regime anything was available for Dirhams, albeit that Heiniken was my only occasional indulgence. Now I am really checking out of the UAE, and from this university compound in Sharjah where we redeployed nine months back. It has been another benign regime, hard to escape its collective clutches, its welfare provision, and its relative ease and convenience. Well, we are now finalising the prison break, although like Michael of the TV series we may have to continue the struggle on the outside, in part one of our own making. Blighty beckons, main reason being to provide psychological support to my mother , but other factors are at work too. Teaching has been especially hard and almost gruelling when combined with writing research papers on the regional situation. These though will provide fame and glory in the major publishing platforms that only Abu Dhabi and a UK university can provide. Once back in the child's bedroom of musical delights and hi-fi, I will probably miss the structure, the relative respect, and the apparent purpose behind what I have been doing in Sharjah. Close, confessional, friendships there have not been, but interesting folks a plenty have been discovered among the faculty. Friendships made here and in Dubai and Abu Dhabi will hopefully be sustained when we all move on to pastures new. Where this goes next, and what will have been achieved is hard to gauge. I know that some students appreciated my insights, others made me feel intellectually and personally inadequate to the task. Overall, university teaching diminishes your analytical depth as those close to the real politics are more out of reach and your own analysis is necessarily simpler. We fly soon, hoping that the advantages of northern European climate and things to access without wheels will make us both closer and life in general more fulfilling.

Jeff Buckley debate

Wasn't the whole "Make Jeff Buckley No 1" campaign back in Blighty getting a little over-exercised? In a decidedly maudlin fashion the pro-Jeff forces mobilized on behalf of a dead artist as opposed to a (thus far largely) undiscovered one. The Sun newspaper - with Absolute Radio’s backing – was, for its own obscure reasons, behind the effort to disinter this one-time photogenic dead singer for belated mass consumption. Absolute Radio’s DJ, Christian, stated on the station's website that Jeff Buckley's version was that of someone whose voice sounded like “he has lived”. Well, compared to the twat on X Factor, that’s true. However Buckley was only in his late 20s when he recorded it. Leonard Cohen, who wrote and performed the original, had lived a lot more in all senses when he released it in the second half of the 80s. John Cale’s cover was haunting, with a voice that was decidedly “lived in” too. Imagine either of these (still alive) singers as a Christmas number 1 in the UK. Now that would have been interesting.

Politics GCC-style

Have just returned from trip to Bahrain and Qatar. In the latter I glimpsed the new Islamic Museum standing magnificent alongside the Doha creek. Business district on one side and tasteful low level buldings on the other. Very impressive from a passing taxi, though couldn't decide if it looked like random breeze blocks, or a modernist thing of beauty as befits its concept. Never got the chance to check out the opening for the plebs, due to meetings, meetings meetings. However found my way to Education City, which somewhat puts Dubai's knowledge village and its companion free zone in the shade. For one thing the partner educational institutions in Qatar appear to be of a higher order, seeing this as a frontline commitment not just a business adjunct, and are regulated with quotas for nationals. How they secure them with a similar demographic in Qatar to Dubai, my lord and saviour alone knows.

Back in Bahrain one year on I feel relieved. Breathe the air of overt politics even if the parliament is akin to the theatre that causes apparent political crises in the mother of all Gulf parliaments, Kuwait. Haven't been back to that former people's republic for more than 2 years.......

Bahrain takes me to the seemier side of town, as befits Deira Diary...the Adhari is, despite its oifficial claims, a two star with a fine selection of music venues (see Hotel California, Deira) and a bar that begs to be explored. Dark space, friendly women, and blasting dinosaur rock. Breakfast even tastes like pork products. Served up in another dark and dingy bar, I take a black plastic table top at 730 am and check out the other clientele: A drunk Saudi who appeared not to have graced his bed last night and who was nursing a fresh beer. He talked to met in Arabic about my breakfast. I wished him a happy Eid before promptly indicating that my conversational skills in French are worse than those in Arabic so he should get back to his beer.

Bahrain is gearing up for its national day, having reached the giddy heights of independence a few days after the UAE. Flags were on display but it looked like being a calmer affair than back home. I even saw an Emirati flag atop a 4x4 in Manama. Old Najdi family alliances of course. Bahrain will not see the same frenzy that is these days taking over the UAE streets on December 2. For one thing, despite its sectarian problems, Bahrain's majority national population are all full nationals with an equal right to vote and stand for an assembly that, although toothless, can embarrass senior people and question alleged corruption and planning absurdities. How much better it is in the UAE where they restrict full nationality to only a proportion of the "nationals" and the government votes in the electors? Reminds me of Bertold Brecht's quip about the ruling East German Workers' Party (SED) despairing of the proletariat. Perhaps you could vote for a new one, he suggested.

Qatar for its part has an arguable 2/3 of its passport holders without full nationality, keeping out the so-called Persians and errant tribes. It though now has two national days, one, newly conceived, is imminent in memory of Jassim, the "enabling" ruler who aligned with Britain having fought off the Turks. What a sensible chap.

Came back to Sharj to find that I had missed National Day and the rain, darn.

Redeployment to Sharjah

Am about to complete my exile from the seemier side of Dubai to an altogether different gig in Sharjah. Same country (apparently) but its those "little differences". One is the financial association and the historical political connection between Sharjah and the regional big bro. Sources suggest this association was recently terminated as an external debt at least. I had assumed that those big bro loans were softer than those thye made to Iraq. However any rejection by Sharjah of fresh support could only occur if another banker had been found closer to home. This would fit with what one understands happened back in the early '90s when Big Bro was told to butt out by one of Sharjah's neighbouring amirates. The residue of Big Bro is still felt however in terms of the volume of conservative book shops and the high profile focus on Islamic Civilization for which there is a dedicated museums department in Sharjah and a whole host of related museums. Of course this may just be a symbolic balancing with modern art bienales et al. One museum checked out by yours truly of late was an impressive collection from the local ruler, taking in ornate tapestries and artefacts. The building is also currently housing a temporary show from Kuwait consisting of the personal items of one of the sons of that country's ruler, including some exquisitely illustrated Korans.

For the most part my work beat is educational, whether by way of teaching or research. The focus is on the region. My students keep my stimulated most of the time, largely with what they say or with the cultural orientations they have. For example my (relatively numerous) local students are drawn from distinct parts and backgrounds, sometimes taking in the broad region. Others were born in additional parts of the Middle East, and even a few anglo-saxons are also represented. This makes for an interesting discussion on occasions, as much without as in class.

Canteen jazz

Dwight Dickerson, African American musical virtuoso and American University of Sharjah (AUS) lecturer, showcased his jazz band at the University Canteen mid-October. He blasted the young audience with an excellent opening number, Cantaloupe Island, with Dr Dickerson himself doing the Herbie Hancock electric piano leads and fills. Don't know who the other guys were, but the trumpet player, alto sax and double bass player were excellent. The drummer, a local favorite, was not in the same league, but performed sufficiently well to drive the beat on as the band tackled Round Midnight more as a Miles than a Thelonious Monk rendition before, to my mind unwisely, moving into extensive soloing of which the highlight was, in much of the audience's mind, the drummer (see OverLoad below). That said, when the trumpet and sax players soloed they were often highly impressive. Perhaps the trumpet playing was a little too reminiscent of Miles, but the sheer blast and alternate subtlety that he showed was sometimes akin to the best performers of this often sublime instrument. When music, at the AUS as anywhere, is normally fenced off in confined and defined spaces (theaters etc al), this gig was a rare treat indeed, even though this superior art form had to compete with the usual lunchtime blather and bullshit of fast food and fast talk. Sadly I was partly driven away by the ongoing solo exchanges, which at times had more of an air of a band practice that a performance. However this is undoubtedly an excellent ensemble and I thoroughly look forward to their next set live at the canteen.

OverLoad

Pakistani fusion band OverLoad came to the American University of Sharjah last week, and desperately tried to enliven a half empty hall consisting of kids who would clap jello sliding down a wall, and ageing teaching staff. Not that they weren't good, beginning with a four piece of female vox, synth player, electric guitarist and drummer, their own-brand rock and electronica was interesting, even accomplished in places. The singer sounded confident, despite this being her debut appearance apparently. She sung in English and Urdu, with the latter seeing an accompanying musical shift of gears from the guys behind her. Much of their obscurer stylisations were lost on the non-paying students hyped up for a 5pm gig (!) however. Most it seems were there for the hairy sufi drummers who we were told were playing complex Indian rhythyms on their two large drums which they periodically swirled around in tame dervish stylee. Frankly, 10 minutes after their entry I was tired of the overload of drumming pyrotechnics and wanted the cool female vocalist to return to the stage. So it seems did a few of the testosterone fuelled students whose wolf whistles had earlier encouraged her to cover up when she was reduced to being stage hand for the rest of the band. Dump the drummers, change the name, and turn up the volume guys.

Sahwa Nikolai

Have been laying low , focusing on a new work situation outside of Dubai but have occasionally been surfacing in order to catch "ethnic" concerts in the more conservative emirate down the road, Sharjah. Ramadhan has not prevented the party mood taking off after iftar, even if attendance is sparse. A (relatively) classical Arab music ensemble, the Tigris Ensemble no less, performing last week at AUS featured, I think, an Iraqi oud player, and, I guess, a Lebanese violin and viola player respectively, and an Egyptian tamborine player. (This was no Liam Gallagher (barely) trying for effect; the man played it with his right hand as if it were a tabla.) Sadly the Arabic and English leaflet that was barely noticeable upon arrival, told us everything except the names and nationalities of the performers. This was said at great, mumbled, speed at the beginning of the gig by one of the musicians. My Arabic is not excellent, so I scrambled to take it in, but there should have been a bit more fanfare, in any language.

As was (almost) said of Frank Zappa, I wished the other guys had shut up and let the guy play his oud. However when he was given free rein the subtleties were lost on much of the audience. Sadly the event was a social more than an artistic occasion, a cause for (loudly) affirming cultural identity bolstered by post-iftar caffeine overload, rather than allowing a sufi-like serenity to take over (G-d forbid). When an elegantly dressed Iraqi (?) singer rather modestly took the spotlight, it did raise the tempo several degrees, however. He had an impressive range and a definite presence.