Circassian culture, one many that enrich
Jordan’s diverse make-up, is famous for its musical tradition. One Jordanian
musician, Ahmed Ai, has been integrating his Circassian heritage into his own
work, hoping to reach audiences near and far.
اضافة اعلان
Ai is a Jordanian musician, producer, and
composer of Circassian descent. Ai studied computer engineering at the
University of Jordan but has picked up playing, composing, and producing music
as a side gig.
He started out as a pianist in 2003 and four
years later, picked up the accordion, citing it is as the centerpiece of
Circassian music. Coming from a family of musicians, Ai’s passion for the art
was hardly a surprise.
Ai started playing the piano by coincidence,
when he stumbled upon a music theory website while on the internet. Ai had
little knowledge about music and notation, but he found an unexpected passion
while trying to navigate the site. He then tried his hand at composing, setting
himself on a path to local and regional acclaim.
According to Ai, when he first started playing
music, there were only few active musicians in Jordan, particularly in the
Circassian community.
He faced one unexpected challenge when he
wanted to compose the soundtrack for a film in 2017, having never studied how
to create film compositions. He worked with a company based in New York called
Beacon Revolt, which creates short films.
The artist described the experience as “a huge
test that I hadn’t studied for” but also “a great and exciting adventure”, in
an interview with Jordan News.
Ai has also worked on two short films, Love
Bug and Choice Flow, in addition to a feature film: Roads to
Olympia.
The musician mainly hopes to reach a
Circassian audience in Jordan. "I was part of the ‘Elbrus’ Circassian band
at the Prince Hamza Bin Al-Hussein School, and I used to be the main composer
before the
COVID-19 pandemic," he added.
Ai
believes that playing and producing music is an important way to express
feelings. "Music expresses feelings that words cannot," he said.
The musician’s dedication to Circassian
culture was his ticket to travel the world. Ai has performed at multiple
Jordanian and international concerts, such as the Aberdeen Festival in Scotland
alongside his band, Elbrus.
During the pandemic and strict lockdown in
Jordan, Ai took the produce a release a major album, called “Around the
Caucasus.” "I consider the latest
album, ‘Around the Caucasus,’ very dear to me because I worked on
it very from my heart in the middle of a global pandemic," he said.
He added that a new album is in the works for
release next year.
Ai's
message to all those who have a passion for music is to never quit, no matter the
challenges. "I advise all the people that have passion for music to never
lose hope and never quit,” he said.
“The learning process might be long,
and you will face many challenges and might sometimes feel that you're not
moving forward; but you are, and you will see this in a blink of an eye. You just
have to keep moving forward.”
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