The end of April marks the end of National Poetry Month. Before the celebration of words and meter could come to a close, I sat down for a phone interview with none other than New York-based composer Mohammed Fairouz.
You might recall my review of his newest album, Follow, Poet. It is a wonderfully balanced work with tracks dedicated to spoken work poetry and selected pieces of President John F. Kennedy's speech given at Amherst College on October 26th, 1963.
“When power leads men towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations," he said. "When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.”
I wanted to get a better sense of how Mohammed works and where he is going with his music since I will have the pleasure of meeting him tomorrow evening in Indianapolis for the premiere of his new work, Zabur.
