Shusmo Gets Mumtastic with Classical Arabic Funk

Shusmo is a secret passageway that winds past all the barriers dividing Arabic maqam from down-and-dirty funk, Latin spark, and swinging jazz. Headed by Palestinian pianist and buzuqplayer Tareq Abboushi, the quintet leads you to a little underground club where pensive classical forms meet dance floor-friendly vibes, where folk tunes open up into gritty jams. “Shusmo” roughly translates as “whatchamacallit” in Arabic, and, like its name, the group is hard to define.

But its aims are clear: a new genre of Arabic music. Mumtastic (June 23, 2011; at Joe’s Pub NYC)—a combination of “fantastic” and “mumtaz” (Arabic for “excellent!”)—gets grooves and a progressive acoustic spirit to shake up ancient microtonal modes and complex rhythms. 

“What I’m working towards is an alternative Arabic music. Now, you’re either sitting listening to classical music or you’re dancing to pop in a club. And there’s too little in between,” Abboushi reflects. “We need something that works like Stevie Wonder, that has soul and musicality and that you can also move to.”

The combinations heard on Mumtastic were a long time coming for Abboushi, who grew up in the Palestinian town of Ramallah, listening to afternoons of piano, as taught by his mother, and to Arabic classical music, which flowed from every radio. Arabic classical greats, like the incomparable Egyptian singer Oum Kalthum, had hours devoted to them on the air every day. Abboushi recalls being able to hear a whole 40-minute-long piece simply by walking past stores and open windows on his way home; everybody was tuned in.

Drawing on this musical atmosphere, “Dal’Ona” wraps traditional wedding banter stuffed with local Palestinian slang in a twisting, irresistible bass line that nods to both James Brown and Fairouz. “Longa Nakreez,” based on a classical Turkish form, rocks, with a grungy buzuq and shredding clarinet (Greek player Lefteris Bournias) where the electric guitar should be. Tracks like “Georgina +2” launch on serious explorations of Arabic elements (thegeorgina-inspired rhythm or a bluesy Kurd mode), only to jump into a hip-swaying, Latin percussion-laced breakdown midway. The beats fly off the riq(Arabic tambourine) and the congas and timbales.