• Home
• /
• In The City
• /
• Entertainment

Rony Afif: drumming his way in dubai

Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon Rony Afif is one of the most sought-after drummers in the Middle East. He has performed all across the region, India, Indonesia and Belgium. The dummer has performed with Bobby McFerrin, Phil Abraham, Bill Saxton, Dwight Dickerson and Jerome Hunter to name a few. As a bandleader and sideman, he has appeared at Java Jazz Festival, Abu Dhabi Jazz Festival, Dubai Jazz Festival, WOMAD Abu Dhabi, Du World Music Festival and Sunburn Festival in Goa. Afif's journey into the world of rhythms began when at the age of nine he started playing the darbouka (traditional percussions). He then went on to study drums and graduated with a BA in Musicology. In 2006, he moved to Dubai. His current projects include Rony Afif Quartet, as well as performing with his brother, Elie on bass, as the Afif Brothers, Abri & Funk Radius and A.R.S. Trio.

What's your band called and what genre do they play?
I have a jazz and world music band, and we are called the Rony Afif Quartet,

How long have you been playing?
I have played drums since 1996.

Any memorable concert you performed in the UAE?
Yes, it was performing with Grammy winner Bobby McFerrin (as part of the Kamal Musallam Project) at the Dubai Jazz Festival. (Elie Afif and Vahagn Hayrapetyan were the other members of the band).

Who inspired you?
It was the drum legend Steve Gadd. I learnt all about music and jazz after following him.

Where in Dubai do you go to listen to live music?
I'm really busy throughout the week performing. Having said that, I really don't think there are many top acts left for me to check out in town. I am not attracted to a place that has two-piece bands or singers using backing tracks. I don't see any creativity in that kind of music.

What's on your playlist?
I'm listening to Joshua Redman & Brad Meldhau, Robert Glasper, Ben Wendel, J Dilla, Meshuggah, Mark Guiliana and Mister Barrington.

What has Dubai offered you in terms of your music?
It has given me a launch pad from where I can take my music worldwide. However, I would love to see more live acts in the city.

Any music style you hate? ?
I don't hate any style, but the way the music is produced - quite a few acts that have seen the light of day are substandard. You wouldn't want an unqualified doctor conducting a surgery on you, would you?  If there's honesty and hard work involved in any music, then style doesn't really matter to me.

Do you listen to EDM? What's your impressions on electronic music?
I am not into dance music, but I look for production skills in EDM. If it's well done, I groove to the music.

One band you would love to see perform in Dubai?
Mark Guiliana.

One musician, you would love to jam with?
The Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan.

Did the movie Whiplash have any effect on you?
Yes. But only negative effects. That movie does not even represent one per cent of drumming, let alone jazz drumming. From a cinematic point of view, yes, the movie was good, nothing else.  

Why should people listen to your music?
If people want to listen to something different from the usual popular stuff, they should listen to our band.

Does jazz have a future?
Jazz will always be there. It has influenced the global music scene for the last 100 years and will continue to do so, but as a standalone art form, in its traditional form, it doesn't have that kind of audience.
michael@khaleejtimes.com