Nicole Maria Hoffschneider Cao & Jim Grippo April 29, 2020
Channel: Jim Grippo
Date: 2020-05-01

This was a quarantine collaboration that I was invited to participate in by Nicole Maria Hoffschneider Cao. She asked me for a 59 second music video that she would in turn choreograph a dance to. I feel honored to be able to be creative with my community of dancers and musicians through all this turmoil that the Corona virus spawned.

Nicole's post:

Happy International Dance Day!

Today, inspired by my next collaborator, I danced outside (completely isolated from others, of course) and enjoyed every second of it! Thank you Jim Grippo for the inspiration, and what an absolute pleasure it has been to create this video together!

My bio:

A lover and devotee of music from an early age, Jim started playing middle eastern music 25 years ago in the UCSB Middle East Ensemble, starting on oud. As a graduate in ethnomusicology under the mentorship of Scott Marcus, Jim spent several years in Egypt researching Egyptian sha'bi music culture and continuing his studies on oud, and later, qanun. Jim has become a sought after soloist, recording on Hollywood soundtracks and performing and recording with many of the beloved Middle Eastern masters in the US and beyond. He is currently teaching oud at UC Santa Barbara and teaches qanun to whoever's game!

The oud, a plucked lute (the word 'lute' actually derives from the Arabic "al-'ud" meaning 'the oud') and qanun, a plucked zither (qanun [Ar.]/kanun [Turk.] is derived from the Greek word for 'law') are some of the highest regarded instruments in the Middle East. Historically, composers, singers and ensemble directors were usually playing one or the other. Jim is playing a Turkish kanun made in Istanbul with 78 strings (3 strings per note equalling three and a half octaves= A2 to E6). His first qanun-s were Egyptian with 74 strings (as the lowest four notes are metal wound and double-coursed= 2 strings per note). He's also playing an Egyptian oud with 13 strings (2 strings per note except for the single bass string equaling three octaves= C2 to C5). When Jim is not playing oud or qanun, he is tuning or replacing strings!

You can follow Jim at on Instagram at @qanunji23.

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