Marching ever onward ~ to the beat of his own drum and in the rhythm of all creation.

Dale Jamaluddin Marcell
1954- 2008

From The Creator we come ~ and to The Creator is our inevitable return

A Celebration & Remembrance of Dale

will be held at
The Princess Twin Cinema
46 King St. N. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Monday, December 22nd, 1:30 p.m.

On December 11th, 2008, a dear friend, brother, colleague and inspiration to many of us ~ Dale Jamaluddin Marcell ~ passed onward.

Dale and I met in 1998 for a recording session, but quickly discovered that we had some rich spiritual commonalities, making our musical marriage even more meaningful. We soon found ourselves on the road with his vibrant Fletcher Valve Drummers - touring schools, festivals and concert halls throughout the United Kingdom, Canada and the USA. In 2004, one of the most treasured experiences I ever had in a recording studio took place while Dale danced quietly next to me ~ helping me “relax” as I tracked vocals for our album “A Different Drum” . We experienced many wonderful adventures together over the past decade and I was truly blessed to have shared his life, his stories, his music, his laughter, his tears and his dreams.

A remarkable man with energy and love that lit the lives of all who entered his company, Dale will be sadly missed by his wife and two children, as well as all of us who knew him and loved him so intensely.

Dale’s family, and those of us who were brothers and sisters to him, are all naturally quite shocked by his sudden passing. Please do remember Dale and his family in your prayers, thoughts, meditations and spiritual gatherings.

Over the past few years, Dale often spoke to me about the many musical, educational and personal projects he was developing, recording and passionate about sharing. Please help keep his work, dreams and projects alive, and support his family during these difficult times, by donating to a special fund I have set up for the Marcell Family and The Marcell School Of Drum through PayPal using the email address: enterintopeace@gmail.com

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Read a 2003 Maclean’s Magazine article about Dale Marcell here.

Visit Dale’s website here

Dear Friends,

Autumn has arrived - blown in with crisp evenings and crunchy afternoon colour here in Colorado.

The past few weeks have been busy with preparations for the UK autumn tour which begins November 2nd. Idris Phillips and I are looking forward to being on the road in England - with a tremendously busy schedule visiting schools and community centers in several cities. A detailed itinerary will be on line here in the coming weeks.

Delightful feedback on the last entry - thanks all! Warmest Eid greetings to those of you who just completed Ramadan. Hope your past month of reflection was as rich with meditation and self-assessment as mine was. “Khalid” - Great to hear from a fellow Canadian! Please give my regards to Tim Horton, Harvey’s and Gerrard Street.

“Minaretmuse”, thank you for your kind comments about the song “The Truth That Lies Inside”. Indeed, the YouTube posting “Will You Hate Me” is actually an early live rendition of the song “Truth That Lies Inside” (which finally made it to CD in 2007 on “Out Seeing The Fields”.)

I wrote the song at some point back in 2002 or 2003, and first sang it live at a gathering in Toronto Canada which was held in a mosque. Given the subdued nature of the environment, I naturally chose to perform the song without an instrument. The presentation was captured by an audience member on video and later found its way to YouTube. The song was new at the time and I suspect the audience member who filmed it did not know the formal title, thus naming it “Will You Hate Me”. I went on to sing the song a’capella at several events in the USA and UK over the following few years, with the intention of having it also be the title track of an a’capella CD.

The proposed CD actually went into production with many demos of “The Truth That Lies Inside” recorded on several different occasions. Something about recording the tune a’capella was hard for me though. It wasn’t that I found the song difficult to execute “technically”, it was more of a “philosophical” difficulty I had with producing the song for an a’capella album targeted at a limited audience. The very nature of the song deals with “honesty”: challenging people to acknowledge and respect the differences of others. The song is about judgment and overcoming the fears of being “real” in the face of others who may be quick to judge. On a personal level, the song was indirectly referencing my own challenges dealing with some people’s expectations of my lifestyle, or ways in which I approach my spirituality and my music. The song was written with guitar and, in my mind, was meant to be recorded with instruments. Attempting to record the song a’capella to ensure uncontroversial acceptance within a niche musical market, felt hypocritical to me. Trying to sound sincere about the song’s words while knowing I was compromising my own approach to the song musically for the sake of sales and people’s favourable opinion of me, left me feeling cheap and commercial.

Zain Bhikha and I then did a demo of the song in South Africa with guitar and harmonies which felt so natural. I realized then that I had to be true to my own gut on that particular song, regardless of how others may view my decision. The a’capella “Truth That Lies Inside” CD evolved into what is now the “Out Seeing The Fields” album and the “original” version of the song, with a solo voice, was shelved.

Now that I have officially released the song with the musical arrangement intended for it - I’ve got what I wanted to say (and how I wanted to say it) “out of my system” - I feel less concerned (and less personal conflict) about alternative versions finding their way to the public. (Incidentally, a guitar/piano version of the song was also recorded in Canada a few years ago. My niece Christine Brown, a talented young artist and pianist, joined me on the tune. I’d love to mix, master and release that version at some point too, and indeed do more work with Christine in the not too distant future!)

Long story short dear “Minaretmuse”, you may be happy to know that when the a’capella version of “Out Seeing The Fields” hits the market in 2009 “The Truth That Lies Inside” will be on the album without instruments. Given your sweet message though - and similar feedback I have heard about the song from many others - I will see if the folks at Beloved Musika would like to offer the original solo-voice version of “The Truth That Lies Inside” for digital download exclusively through their MP3 store in coming weeks. I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks for letting me share the “truth” about “The Truth That Lies Inside”. Now it only remains to be seen…will you hate me?

Peace,
dawud

Dear friends,

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are all doing well. My warmest regards to the folks who posted comments on the last Blog entry - your kind words and support mean more to me than you may realize.

Yacine from Tunisia, thanks for your comments about music. As for your suggestion of releasing my most recent songs with “percussion and vocal only” arrangements: Great minds think alike! Indeed - my colleagues at Beloved Musika and I have discussed this subject at great length. My poetry and lyrics have always been the primary focus of my work, as my passion for writing has always been stronger than my desire to be strictly a “singer” or “musician”. It has always been known to me that, many individuals around the world who may embrace my poetry and song lyrics, may also be turned off by my style of musical presentation. It would be counter productive of me to distance anyone from the ideas I attempt to convey through my work. Therefore, Beloved Musika is aiming to help me release alternative versions of my songs in the coming months, with an initial focus on a special “world-music” edition of Out Seeing The Fields. So do keep your ears open and keep checking in here for details on that exciting project which will feature some special guests and several new bonus tracks.

In other news, it has been an eventful few months for me, bouncing around the earth for shows and meetings with colleagues (on several continents) regarding upcoming production.

Idris and I started July off with a trip to the United Kingdom for some shows in Birmingham at the Anderton Park School. The students and staff of Anderton were so warm and welcoming. You can read more about our adventures there in the News section of this site. Special thanks to our hero Taruq Hussain of Birmingham, who arranged the tour and was our dedicated sound-man during the trip. He captured some wonderful live material from our shows, including our impromptu cover of the classic tune “Father and Son” (now on-line at My Space) by Cat Steves/Yusuf. We’re really looking forward to working with Taruq again on a few shows during our upcoming November UK tour. After Birmingham Idris and I spent a great weekend at the Living Islam Camp in Linconshire, where we offered up a few evening shows to the multitudes of attendees. Afternoons at the camp were spent presenting intimate musical and motivational workshops with young campers.

The following weekend I was back in the UK again (without my trusted Captain Idris) for a solo performance at the Eid Mela Festival in Birmingham. I was honoured to share the stage with my good friends and fellow performers Shaam, Khaleel Muhammad, Poetic Pilgrimage, Abid Baig (Hey man! I saw you run off the stage and out the back gate before I could grab you for a hug and chat backstage…) and others.

From the UK, I was off to Johannesburg South Africa where I met with my kindred spirit Zain Bhikha for a series of shows in his home-town, and a one day workshop with a group of talented young writers who had been assembled from all over the country. Zain has written all about our adventures on his My Space blog here.

Other stops along the journey had me in Canada for a couple of shows, and in Dubai for some meetings with the crew at Beloved Musika to discuss several exciting production plans for 2009. Among the simmering pots of musical goulash are a few new collaborative projects with Zain Bhikha and Idris Phillips which I am really excited about.

These days I am back at my home near Denver, Colorado - currently working on some music for a series of educations children’s programs based around a character named Baba Ali. My forthcoming anthology of poetry is now also in its final draft of revisions for release next year through Britain’s Kube Publishing.

Lots more to share in coming weeks. Please, don’t be a stranger.

Peace,
dawud

Greetings of peace. Welcome to the newest incarnation of my website.

My good friends at Beloved Musika in Dubai, who have been helping me distribute my work over the past two years, have been kind enough to help me re-vamp my on-line presence with this new and comprehensive site. A million thanks to my kindred spirit Qutaiba Mahawili who designed the site, which I feel truly represents who I am and what I love about this world. His utilization of my original sketches, poetry and photography make this virtual home feel a lot like my actual office and living-room - which are regularly adorned with collections and treasures both old and new, gathered from around the world.

The next several months ahead are heavily booked with an incredible amount of production and several performance tours. Currently, I have no less than 10 important recording projects simmering on the stove, as well as two book projects nearing completion.

It is my hope that, during the year ahead, I may return to the habit of weekly entries to share new recordings, poetry and updates about my ongoing adventures on the road and in studio.

As the home-page says: join me in a cup of tea! Feel welcome to browse and listen, sharing my music, writings and artistic experimentation with me.

Peace,
dawud