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Here's a new video from "scratch guitarist" and looper Genie, who played at Y2K6 this year. I asked me to forward this along. I'll have his Y2K6 recording sent out this weekend some time, among others. Kris ----- Original Message ----- > > http://currenttv.com/watch/16180242 > The renowned pioneer of "scratch guitar", The Genie blends blues, jazz, > electronica, bossa nova, latin and middle-eastern rhythms via slide > guitar, beatboxing, and live sampling, to create a visually stunning and > truly unique show. > > San Francisco Bay Guardian July 28-Aug 3 2004 > Making it from scratch > Mission homeboy-guitarist Luis Monterrosa, a.k.a. the Genie, plugs in and > blows up. > By Camille T. Taiara > ON A BALMY , late-summer night last year, during my first trip to the > Middle East, I discovered the most enchanting music. It was at the modest > apartment of a Palestinian artist and newfound friend who'd invited a > small group over for dinner. I'll never forget the moment: sipping on a > glass of arak and listening to the mesmerizing sounds emanating from > Mahmoud's paint-splattered boom box as I stared through open porch doors > at the vast Damascus skyline, with its miles of Soviet-style, concrete > buildings interrupted by the occasional mosque's green-lit minaret. The > musical score, I was later told, dated back thousands of years and had > been discovered in the Iraqi desert by a team of archaeologists who'd > translated it into modern-day notation. It was then performed by a > European symphony (they didn't know which). > "It conveys a profound solitariness, yet with the understanding that >we're > part of something much bigger than our individual selves," I told another > guest at the time. > "You, my dear, are a Sufi," he responded. > Back home many months later, I popped a CD into my own boom box and was > taken back to that moment in Mahmoud's apartment. > The cultural references were different. Others might call the music's > spiritual message by another name - referring instead, perhaps, to > Buddhism's tenet that "all is one," or to American Indian spiritual > beliefs that what we in the modern West call God can be found in the >earth > and sky and everything around us. > But listening to Luis Monterrosa's songs, it was evident: he's a Sufi >too. > > Monterrosa, who goes by the stage name the Genie, is quickly becoming an > underground icon in San Francisco these days - playing at house parties, > galleries, cafés, and wherever else they'll give him a chance. His > instruments: a guitar, a sampler, and a mic. His technique: scratch > guitar, a term he made up to refer to his distinctive playing style. > "I make everything from scratch," he told me. "Also, I'm emulating > turntablism techniques." > The Genie usually begins by beat-boxing into a mic and looping the beat > into a sampler to set the percussive groundwork, then layering in a >string > of guitar notes. This becomes the musical base over which he plays slide > guitar. His music comes off as a melodic fusion of hip-hop, Latin rock, > and electronica, and, in the case of "Grenada," even includes an element > of Southern twang. > The result is mesmerizing and, somehow, profoundly human - as if he were > giving sound to some intimate yet universal quality shared across time >and > cultural divides. > With diverse cultural reference points and without much left by way of > family, the Guatemalan American Genie has developed a sense of > interconnectedness that doesn't rely merely on blood ties or a shared > history. And while he'll point to Prince, Metallica, and particularly > Carlos Santana as his earliest musical influences, supplemented in recent > years by local underground DJs (Shadow, QBert, Shortkut, and MixMaster > Mike), his is much more than a mere patchwork of styles. It's a >reflection > of his political consciousness, extensive travels (to Palestine, >Colombia, > and Brazil), and the lack of a psychological home. > In that sense, the Genie resembles a Mission District homeboy version of > Manu Chao - a globe-trotting musical nomad influenced by a profound > concern for social justice coupled with the insights garnered from > experiencing different perspectives, sensibilities, and ways of life. > Also like Chao, the Genie launched his solo career playing at Metro > stations - albeit in Montreal two years ago rather than in Paris during > the mid-1980s. Then one day he spied a flyer for the Montreal >DMC/Technics > World DJ Championships turntable competition at the venerable Club Soda. > "I just crashed it," he recalled. "And someone who was supposed to >perform > couldn't, so they were down for me to play." > The Genie's unique performance caught the attention of DJ Horg, one of >the > competition's judges, who signed him on for a record deal. The result was > Rebel Music (High Life Music), the Genie's first album, which comprises > seven original instrumentals. > Appropriately, the album opens with an excerpt from Frontiers of Fears >and > Dreams, Mai Masri's 2001 documentary about two young Palestinian girls: > "My dream is to one day find a lamp with a genie inside who would turn me > into a bird so I could fly away," Mona Zaaroura, a 13-year-old from the > Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, says in Arabic. > Now the album's made its way to San Francisco, and the Genie is > celebrating with an album-release party at StudioZ.tv that includes > collaborations with Afro-Brazilian contemporary choreographer Paco Gomes > and local vocalist Panacea, as well as an invitation for local rappers to > freestyle at an open mic at the end of the night. > "Watch, this vato's gonna blow up in a year or two," local Chicano > filmmaker Pepe Urquijo told me after the Genie played a set in Urquijo's > living room during the latter's birthday party back in 2002. > He was right. > But to the Genie, it's not about that. It's about consciousness - about > recognizing that we're all part of a greater whole, and struggling to > create a more just, egalitarian, and humane world. > "I'm trying to reach people on an emotional level, more through their > souls than through their brain," he said. > The Genie plays, with David Molina and special guests, Thurs/29, > > Montreal Mirror Noisemakers 2004 > > ARCHIVES: Jan 08-14.04 Vol. 19 No. 29 > > > > > Out of the bottle > Your wish is the Genie's command > > by SCOTT C > The first time I saw the Genie perform, I simply wasn't prepared for the > spectacle. Using an electric guitar, a multi-effects foot pedal and a > microphone, he was able to create a layered mish-mash of riffs, licks and > tricks, backed by a looped beat box - all in a matter of 25 seconds, live > on stage. He built track after track of weaving hip hop instrumentalism > laced with guitar and sampled guitar byproducts while a mystified >audience > looked on with head-nodding appreciation. > The Genie is Luis Monterrosa, a passionate, socially aware San Francisco > expatriate who turned a lot of heads in this city when he bum-rushed the > 2002 DMC Championships and gave the audience an unexpected treat. Ever > since then, he's been playing around Montreal, blowing people away with > his on-the-fly productions. > The Genie recently recorded the album Rebel Music, with the aid of > Montreal's High Life Music and his good friend DJ Horg, an album that > attempts to capture the essence of his live show. The album is a >testament > to the globetrotting tendencies of this talented musician, who clearly > tries to impart a piece of his travels into every song. Upcoming projects > include a DVD, a live album, and collaborations with the many people the > Genie has been blessed to meet along the way. >