Exclusive track premiere of ‘Yuma Soul’ by Rami Atassi, a Syrian-American creative producer, teaching artist, and guitar educator based in Chicago, IL. The single is part of the upcoming album, ‘Dancing Together,’ out October 6th, 2023.

“Somewhere between the deserts of the Middle East and the mesas of the American southwest you’ll hear this song. My jadd (grandfather) used to love watching Westerns—whenever he came to visit in the U.S. he would hang out at the house and watch whatever was playing on Turner Classic Movies. He was really into the cowboy thing… I could never tell if it was ironic or if he just straight up loved cowboys. He was a bit cryptic like that. Once this tune came to life, it got me thinking about the intersection of Arabic culture and American film tropes. The name is a nod to the classic black and white western, 3:10 to Yuma.”

“When it came time to write the melody, I had been practicing using slide guitar to match vocal recordings—and wanted to make the slide sound like a voice. The main melody started on slide guitar and I had been checking out singers like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Fairouz, and Mariem Hassan… I wanted something singable with a wide open feel to give contrast to the driving guitar riff.”

Rami Atassi creates melodic instrumental music with influences of spiritual jazz, Arabic folk music & afrobeat grooves. In 2022, Rami assembled his group, The Cosmic Dance Band—a vehicle to explore his love of desert guitar & maqam jazz, blending sounds of the Middle East with jazz harmony & a modern sonic palette. This group and its collective improvisation is the backbone of his latest album, Rami_Atassi). In 2020, Rami released his first album, Atashi Wa Rami—a collection of duets with underground bass heavyweight Tatsu Aoki. He recorded these compositions over 3 sessions directly to an 8-track reel-to-reel tape machine. This work reflects his interest in synthesis, sound manipulation, and experimental guitar techniques. Rami cut his teeth playing guitar in Chicago’s improvised music & indie rock scenes with bands like The MIYUMI Project & The Curls. In 2016, he played guitar for SKYLANDING: The Music of Yoko Ono by The MIYUMI Project (produced by Yoko Ono). In 2018, he played Pitchfork Music Festival with The Curls in support of Super Unit—their 2017 album where his angular, left-of center guitar work played a pivotal role. Rami’s original score for the feature-length film Bad Animal won “Best Original Music” at the 2022 Fine Arts Film Fest. His work is featured in Then They Came for Us, a 2017 documentary about the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans featuring George Takei.

In addition to his work as a music creator, Rami is a passionate music educator. In 2021, he founded Guitar Tactics, an online guitar program offering group classes & video content for adult guitar learners. To date he has helped over 100+ students deepen their guitar practice through a mix of group classes & online courses.

Headline photo: Remsy Atassi

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