Moroccan-born and LA-based songwriter Ami Taf Ra’s recently released debut album The Prophet and the Madman is a work that’s firmly planted in both the past and the present. Named for two works by Lebanese-American poet and philosopher Kahlil Gibran, each of the 11 tracks is inspired by different corners of Gibran’s bibliography, while the sounds that accompany the vocalist’s lyrics are largely shaped by traditional Moroccan gnawa music dating back to the 16th century. However in being released by Brainfeeder, there are also elements of the near future to be heard throughout, particularly the strain of spiritual jazz bolstered by Ami Taf Ra’s frequent collaborator Kamasi Washington.
On a recent trip to NYC, Ami Taf Ra stopped by Gibran’s former residence where she performed the album track “Children”—inspired by the poem “On Children” from his collection The Prophet—outside for our “Neighborhoods” video series. “The video’s location also speaks to the history of the song’s lyrics,” the songwriter adds, “with some background noise of New York and a natural and organic feel.”
Check out the performance below, and listen to The Prophet and the Madman here.
