Oct 4

Oct 4 The Oud Is The Cure

Music Edition, Palestine in America, Q&A, You Should Know, Print Issue

Clarissa Bitar is using her oud as a bridge between musical styles

The following was originally published in Palestine in America’s 2020 Music Edition. Order a print copy or download a digital copy today!

Clarissa Bitar is a Palestinian oud musician and composer born, raised, and based in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Music and an emphasis in Ethnomusicology. As a student, Clarissa won multiple awards for excellence in performance in Ethnomusicology and had the privilege of playing around California with the UC Santa Barbara Middle East Ensemble. To further her studies, Clarissa sought out and learned from prominent Arab oudists including Simon Shaheen, Charbel Rouhana, and Bassam Saba.

Clarissa now works as a studio musician and has turned her classical oud style into exciting collaborations with artists of many different genres including Massari, Elyanna, Omar Offendum, Mona Haydar, Sandhill, Nasri Atweh, and Rotana. Recently, she produced a joint poetry-oud EP with Palestinian poet Mohammed el-Kurd titled “Bellydancing on Wounds.” Her solo EP “Bayati,” was released in 2019 and focuses on the maqam Bayati, an important mode in Arab music. Clarissa is already back in the studio working on a new album.

When she’s not working on new music, she travels the United States (and abroad) to perform and teach oud. Her passion for teaching and sharing knowledge of Arab music is driven by the hope that younger generations of Arabs, especially those in the diaspora, can continue to have access to this tradition. Clarissa Bitar’s music is available on all streaming platforms. Follow her on Instagram @Clarissabitar for updates on future releases.

Track:

“Leila”

Palestine in America (PiA): What’s your name?

Clarissa Bitar

PiA: Who are you?

Clarissa Bitar CB: I am an oud player and composer.

PiA: Where do you live?

CB: I live in Los Angeles.

PiA: How has your experience been in the music scene there?

CB: Living in Los Angeles I am blessed to have opportunities as a studio and session musician where I record music for many different artists for many different purposes, people know to hit me up when they need oud on their track. More recently the music scene has been more about studio work than live performances, especially since the Covid-19 outbreak, but luckily musicians can still record remotely and work that way. However I do miss playing live, unfortunately Instagram live and zoom concerts don’t have the same energy as live audiences.

PiA: What type of music do you make and how did you get into it?

CB: I am trained in a very traditional style of oud playing, so in that way my music has many traditional elements. I am a huge fan of taqasim, which is instrumental improvisation, a huge and important genre for instrumentalists in Arab music. More recently however I have been working on an album that has a few experimental tracks which blend traditional elements with other forms of music that I’m looking forward to releasing. All in all I would say my music is heavily influenced by Shami and Egyptian musicians.

PiA: What kind of themes do you explore in your music?

CB: I explore many themes in my music relating to diaspora and a sense of longing or belonging. As a child of the Palestinian diaspora my music connects me in ways that surpass physical barriers or borders and to me it can be a powerful way to reclaim traditions that are actively being stolen and erased. I find my music to also be very healing for me personally. It has a healing effect in my family forsure, and has always been a way that my family passed time and enjoyed each other’s company. Music allows me to connect no matter how far I feel from my homeland and my people.

PiA: Brag about yourself: have you collaborated with any cool artists?

CB:I have worked with a variety of artists ranging from poets to film makers to musicians and so on. I have made music for and recorded with Massari, Nasri Atweh, Elyanna, Omar Offendum, Mona Haydar, and Rotana among others.

I’ve worked with poet Mohammed el Kurd on a poetry-oud album we created together.

PiA: What are the dream collaborations that you're trying to manifest?

CB: If Oum Kalthoum or Mohammed Abd al-Wahab were alive this would be a very different conversation, but unfortunately that’s not the case. I love working with Elyanna, I think it would be cool to put out a track with her, something super stripped down, maybe solo oud and her voice I think could be beautiful, she’s incredibly talented. It would be amazing to do a track with Maysa Daw, 47Soul, or Abir. It would also be great to collaborate with a more traditional singer like Dalal Abu-Amneh.

PiA: How does your Palestinian family / friends / community support you?

CB: I am so lucky to have such a supportive family and friends. My family loves and appreciates music especially so having their support has meant that I have been able to really focus on my craft and my music. My grandparents and parents were always very supportive and would drive two hours to UC Santa Barbara when I was in college to watch my concerts. They continue to support me today, we love to sing and play music together as a family. I am surrounded by a community of musicians and Palestinians who continually support my art and that has had a huge positive effect on my career. Without the support from my community I would definitely not be where I am today.

PiA: What kind of future would you like to see for diaspora Palestinians in music?

CB: would like to see more collaborations between Palestinian musicians in diaspora. I think it’s important to create art that also reflects our positions here as Palestinians in diaspora and what that means to us and it can be a very powerful think to create with others who also share that perspective. I also think it’s important for us to build a future generation of people who support and appreciate the arts so that musicians and artists can continue to pursue their passions and create.

PiA: What's the best career advice you've ever received?

PiA: In the near future, Palestine is free, we're throwing a big party there to celebrate, and everybody gets to play some music, what records (not your own) are you bringing to play at the party?

CB: The best career advice I ever received was from Najib Shaheen who told me that listening was just as important as practicing oud, this stuck with me because there is so much that can be learned from observing others and actively listening to music, especially the greats that come before us. Some of the best technical career advice I ever received was from Simon Shaheen who told me two things: don’t play too close to the bridge of the oud, and take your time between phrases on the oud in a Taqasim, he relates it to talking and trying to eloquently say a sentence to someone and that really changed the way that I thought about and approached improvisation. First off I love this question. Second I would totally bring Bil Afrah by Ziad Rahbani, the entire album is just such a jam so you could let the whole thing play through multiple times and I wouldn’t be mad about it. It is an instrumental album with a great story. Apparently a recording session was supposed to happen for Fairuz but she canceled last minute and Ziad Rahbani, her son, had all of the musicians already in the studio so he decided to order food and drinks, throw a party, and record an entire jam session with all the musicians. The whole vibe of the album just has such a live feel and I really appreciate that about it. (It’s great music to celebrate to)