Khaled Kurbeh

Ithā Sajā is an ode to dusk, dawn and what’s in between. Or, Ithā Sajā is a collection of piano recordings I made in my Berlin studio

wal-Leil [by the night] is inspired by conversations with my friends Hend Alkahwaji and Wejdan Nassif during theatre rehearsals. wal-Leili [by the night II] is an imagined conversation with my friend Raman Khalaf. An homage to the jurjina rhythm found in folk music of northern Iraq and Mesopotamia. In wan-Najmi [by the star], one phrase repeats over and over with subtle changes – inspired by a procrastinating artist (quietly) dancing before a (nearly) stretched, (almost) blank canvas, dreaming up a (new but familiar) pattern. In Ithā Hawā [to fall / to fall in love], a flâneur takes an early evening stroll along the Landwehr canal in Kreuzberg. Tadāris [terrains] is an ongoing series of acoustic études – played with mallets, objects and fingers inside and outside the piano. In Ithā Sajā [if it settles / when it darkens], my left hand keeps a steady rhythm while the right one wanders in search of a nocturnal motif. My eyes peek out the window. It’s the first attempts of dawn.

Marking Khaled Kurbeh’s second release with Research Records, Ithā Sajā is a collection of nine piano pieces. The gatefold vinyl features cover art and a booklet of drawings by Ida Lawrence – nine repetitions of Khaled’s upright piano, taking shape or disintegrating as one turns the page. Thank you to Alessandra Peach and Maryos Syawish from Research Records, and to everyone listening.