BEJE with FARIS ISHAQ pre-recording album sale

Aim

Fundraise 30% of album recording costs for BEJE + special guest Faris Ishaq. In return you'll receive the album once ready in 2027.

Hello friends and supporters

WHAT WE'LL DO

From May 10th to May 15th The group below - except for bassist Federico who is on family leave- will go to Red Kite Studio (www.redkitestudio.co.uk) in Wales to record BEJE's 5th album, but the first with Faris Ishaq, special guest ney Master from Palestine. 

Freddy is replaced by the wonderful Andy Hamill (andyhamill.com) whom I first played with in 1995-6 with the Timshel Quintet. The personnel are myself David Mowat on trumpet/flugel, Knud Stuwe on oud (knudstuwe.com), Tim Funnell (timmyfunnell.com) on piano and Paolo Adamo (paoloadamo.weebly.com) on drums.  

We will create and record new music, compositions by Faris, Tim, Knud and myself. We'll bring sketches, full compositions, poems and improvise on the spot, all inspired by the incredible beauty of Wales in late Spring glory.  

WHY ARE WE DOING IT

We are musicians and live and breathe the joy of creating new music. It's an unstoppable drive in us whilst we live! The combination between BEJE and Faris we find particularly stimulating. But on top of that, here is an opportunity through Faris to shout from the hilltops that Palestine is alive, original, deeply rooted in the Levant and calls us to affirm through music "In our thousands in our millions we are all Palestinians". No one is an island as John Donne said; we're part of each other. 

THE BACKGROUND

This will be our 4th outing together since the collaboration began between Faris and BEJE at Bristol's Cotham Club's inaugural gig in April 2022. BEJE was originally set up in 2013 to celebrate the joining up of European jazz musicians who'd made cosmopolitan Bristol their home; ours was a statement of unity in diversity, a blast against the looming Brexiteering clouds, and we quickly became more global in ambition and composition. 

Our relationship with Faris goes back to jamming with him at the 'Beit Al-Musika' in Beit Sahour in Occupied Palestine in 2018 when Knud and I were part of Chai For All's Longing Belonging and Balfour tour (see 1st crowdfunder listed here).

We find in Faris an electrifying combination of  deeply-rooted Palestinian music, an other-worldly-spirituality and the ecstatic reach of John Coltrane. After Knud and I met him Faris went on to study -and win accolades- at Berklee Global Jazz Institute and we became a great fit together. 

YOUR ROLE

All this costs of course. Excluding mastering artwork and distribution costs which will be faced this autumn, your £20 will entitle you to a free album download from Band Camp (https://davidmowat.bandcamp.com), or sent by post. Larger donations are of course welcome too. Make sure you say in the donor's message section you'd like an album (or more than 1).

The cost to me of recording and mixing the album is approximately £7000.  That's £3000 in fees for the players, and £4000 in studio and engineer hire including mixing, and accommodation. 

I will under-write the whole project whatever the shortfall to ensure it happens. But I hope to raise £1500 at least from a funder, £2500 here from advanced sales and put in £3000 of my own money to be recouped eventually through album sales. 

WHAT WILL WE SOUND LIKE?

Well I can't know exactly! That's the point of creating new music. But you here something of sound through the link below.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJMohCbijYZ/

HEAR US LIVE After the album is recorded we're guests of Bath Friends Of Palestine on May 16th at Christ Church. Tickets here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/faris-ishaq-in-concert-with-beje-tickets-1985234853889

FURTHER DETAILS

https://bejejazz.com

@farisishaq.music instagram

A rough mix of a full live concert May 2024 is here https://soundcloud.com/user-182096485

https://farisishaq.com

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 27th June 2026 at 5:20pm