Khyam Allami

rdf:langString Khyam Allami

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rdf:langString "I was neck-deep in western rock, but "eastern"-sounding melodies always got to me. In particular, the soaring majestic violin solo of Aboud Abdel Al on Killing Joke's song "Communion". It never failed to unleash a torrent of butterflies in my stomach – the kind of deep, nervous, painful longing you only feel when you are stupidly in love with a girl you cannot have. Why did that violin make me feel that way? And more importantly, how do you play a melody like that?"

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rdf:langString Khyam Allami on reconnecting with his musical roots.

rdf:langString Khyam Allami (born 1981 in Damascus, Syria) is a British-based musician and musicologist of Iraqi descent. He is best known as a contemporary player of the Arabic oud lute (working both with traditional Arabic repertoire and with contemporary compositions and cross-disciplinary music) and has also written about and lectured on Arabic music. Allami has studied oud and composition with a variety of musicians and composers from the Arab world, including , Naseer Shamma, , and . His most prominent public appearance to date has been at the 2010 Proms concerts in London. He performed on 9 August 2010 as part of Prom 33: BBC Radio 3 World Routes Academy alongside one of his mentors, Iraqi guitarist and singer Ilham Al Madfai. He also currently performs and promotes oud-based concerts in London under the title of Ud and Elsewhere, in which he collaborates with other musicians from diverse backgrounds. Allami has also worked within the rock music field as a drummer and bass guitarist, having played for bands including Knifeworld, Ursa, Art of Burning Water and Gales.