Celebrate Good Times: Rahim Alhaj and Amjad Ali Khan with "Celebrations"

Rahim Alhaj and Amjad Ali Khan perform our random tune for today. Rahim Alhaj is an Iraqi-American oud player and composer living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began playing the oud at age nine and soon revealed a great talent for the instrument. A political activist against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, he was forced into political exile, first in Syria and Jordan and finally in the United States. He combines traditional Iraqi maqams with contemporary stylings and influences. Amjad Ali Khan is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod, an instrument that his family claims to have invented - he is the sixth generation of his family to be a musician. He is a recipient of India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan. This song, Celebrations, can be found on their 2009 collaboration Ancient Sounds.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Take Wing: Rahim Alhaj and "Fly Away"

Iraqi musician Rahim AlHaj, who originally came to Albuquerque as a refugee, brings us the random tune for today. Rahim Alhaj is an oud player and composer. He began playing the oud at age nine and soon revealed a great talent for the instrument. A political activist against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, he was forced into political exile, first in Syria and Jordan and finally in the United States. Resettled in Albuquerque, he was told to report to a job. As an oud master, he assumed that he would be teaching music, and asked where the job was. "McDonalds," he was told. We think he was better off staying with his first love, music. He combines traditional Iraqi maqams with contemporary stylings and influences. This song, Fly Away, can be found on his 2013 album Journey.

Something I Never Carry: Karim Baggili and "Pay Cash"

Today's random tune is by Belgian-Jordanian artist Karim Baggili. A composer and oud player, Baggili started with electric guitar at 16 but acquired an oud at the age of 20 after a visit to Jordan. He won first prize at the Open Strings festival in Germany in 2000. He is a regular performer in Belgium and abroad, and has released five albums. This song, Pay Cash, can be found on his 2010 album Léa & Kash.

The Right Stuff: Rahim AlHaj and "Maqam Rast"

Albuquerque's immigrant son, Rahim AlHaj, brings us the random tune for today. Rahim Alhaj is an Iraqi-American oud player and composer living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began playing the oud at age nine and soon revealed a great talent for the instrument. A political activist against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, he was forced into political exile, first in Syria and Jordan and finally in the United States. Resettled in Albuquerque, he was told to report to a job. As an oud master, he assumed that he would be teaching music, and asked where the job was. "McDonalds," he was told. We think he was better off staying with his first love, music. He combines traditional Iraqi maqams with contemporary stylings and influences. This song, Maqam Rast, can be found on his 2013 album Journey.

A Musical Path: Le Trio Joubran and "Masâr"

Today's tune is called Masâr and is by Le Trio Joubran. Le Trio Joubran is made up of brothers originally from Nazareth and now dividing their time between Nazareth, Ramallah and Paris. The trio play their songs using the oud, and focus on traditional Palestinian music. While the eldest brother, Samir, had a solo music career before the Trio, they had an auspicious beginning, playing their first performance in the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Masâr can be found on their 2010 release Majâz.

Peace: Rahim Alhaj and Amjad Ali Khan with "Release of the Dove"

Today's random tune, Release of the Dove, is by Rahim Alhaj and Amjad Ali Khan. Rahim Alhaj is an Iraqi-American oud player and composer living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began playing the oud at age nine and soon revealed a great talent for the instrument. A political activist against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, he was forced into political exile, first in Syria and Jordan and finally in the United States. He combines traditional Iraqi maqams with contemporary stylings and influences. Amjad Ali Khan is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod, an instrument that his family claims to have invented - he is the sixth generation of his family to be a musician. He is a recipient of India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan. Release of the Dove can be found on their 2009 collaboration Ancient Sounds.

It Must be Beautiful: Mehmet Cemal Yeşilçay and "Morning In Ortaköy"

Today's random tune has a Turkish smooth jazz feel. Morning In Ortaköy is performed by Mehmet Cemal Yeşilçay. Yeşilçay is a Turkish oud player and composer who was a co-founder, along with psaltery player Mehmet İhsan Özer, of the Pera Ensemble of Istanbul. He has performed more than 200 concerts worldwide. The name Ortaköy refers to a neighborhood in Istanbul on the European side of the city known for its cosmopolitan flavor. Morning In Ortaköy can be found on the 2010 compilation album Pera Lounge.

Tolerance: Youssou N'Dour and "Touba - Daru Salaam"

Today's random tune is by a legendary African musician. Youssou N'Dour is a singer, songwriter, composer, percussionist, actor and politician, and one of the most visible personas of Senegal. Born in a griot family, he didn't take the traditional griot path but he is considered a modern griot anyway. He was the driving force behind the popular Senegalese music called mbalax. He came to world notice thanks to his collaborations with Western musicians like Peter Gabriel, but his music stands on its own. This song, Touba - Daru Salaam, is from his 2004 CD Egypt. The album combines West and North African music, as well as instrumentation in its use of the West African kora and the Arab oud. It promotes the tolerance of Senegalese Islam, and garnered a Grammy award for N'Dour.

Where Are We Going?: Rahim Alhaj and Amjad Ali Khan with "Common Destination"

Today's random tune, Common Destination, is by Rahim Alhaj and Amjad Ali Khan. Rahim Alhaj is an Iraqi-American oud player and composer living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began playing the oud at age nine and soon revealed a great talent for the instrument. A political activist against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, he was forced into political exile, first in Syria and Jordan and then in the United States. He combines traditional Iraqi maqams with contemporary stylings and influences. Amjad Ali Khan is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod, an instrument that his family claims to have invented - he is the sixth generation of his family to be a musician. He is a recipient of India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan. Common Destination can be found on their 2009 collaboration Ancient Sounds.

Stormy Weather: Marcel Khalife and "Promises of the Storm"

Our random song today is from Marcel Khalife, a Lebanese singer, composer and oud player. A winner of the Palestine Award for Music and the UNESCO Artist for Peace award, Khalife first created a group in his village in the 1970s to revive Lebanese music and Arab choral singing during the Lebanese civil war. He combines traditional Arab music with western elements such as piano, and recently has concentrated in instrumental works. His music has been controversial in the Arab world - it was banned in Tunisia in 2005 possibly due to his support of imprisoned Arabs in Israel and Arab countries and his support of Tunisian activists. He also faced criminal prosecution in Lebanon for a song using lyrics that quoted the Qu'ran. While Khalife was found innocent of blasphemy, senior Sunni Muslim clerics still maintain that he is guilty. This song, Promises of the Storm, is from his 1997 album of the same name.

Oud Dog, New Tricks: DuOud and "Nude for Death"

The great master oud player Rahim AlHaj once told us (Megan and me) about the relationship he developed with his oud. To him, the oud was like a living person, like a friend or parent or even a lover. When he first got one, he couldn't be separated from it and even slept with it. That to me encapsulates the kind of passion that the oud inspires in its players and adherents. As I've gotten to know some of the music and history of the oud, it seems to me that it is analogous to western classical guitar. I've heard a lot of oud in Arabic classical music, and it always came across to me as a stately, refined instrument. Then comes DuOud, which incorporates the oud into modern music, and yet does not diminish the elegance of the oud at all.

Now that might seem strange given today's song. Nude for Death is by the Paris-based DuOud. DuOud is made up of Algerian Mehdi Haddad and Tunisian Jean-Pierre "Smadj" Smadja, who specialize in Arabic fusion and a desire to reinvent the image of the oud, one of the traditional instruments of Arabic music. What DuOud do is mix oud with all kinds of stuff - jazz saxophone, guitar, samples, beats, and even African vocals. And yet still, at the base of it all, sits the majestic oud. Nude for Death appears on their 2009 CD http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/19/worldmusic. (Not sure why on this video, but even though the video is over 7 minutes long, the song ends at about 4:50 in and then it's just silent)

Globalquerque Video 7: Rahim AlHaj and Liu Fang

Today's Globalquerque video is of Albuqerque's own oud master Rahim AlHaj and Chinese pipa master Liu Fang performing in the Fountain Courtyard at the National Hispanic Cultural Center during Globalquerque 2014 on September 20th in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Liu Fang was born in China and currently lives in Montreal. She is described as the "empress of pipa" and is considered one of the foremost players of the pipa and the guzheng. She plays both traditional Chinese songs as well as classical Chinese music and modern compositions from the East and West. Rahim AlHaj was born in Iraq and emigrated to Albuquerque as a political refugee. He has been playing the oud since the age of 9 and studied in Iraq under the greatest masters of the oud. His political activism against the Saddam Hussein regime forced him to leave Iraq in 1991, and he lived in Jordan and Syria before coming to the US. He detailed in the concert how he wrote songs for oud and pipa and found Liu Fang to play them - and this song is one of those that he wrote.

I shot this on my Samsung Galaxy and because I was using zoom the video is a little grainy. There is also a bit of background sound from cicadas, which Rahim Alhaj notes before they play.