VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE # 235
AIR DATE: 07 15 2022
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Playing On
((SOT))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((David Amran
Composer, Conductor and Multi-Instrumentalist))
As Dizzy Gillespie said, “What are you going to do when you retire?” He said, “My philosophy is, Bop till you drop.”
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Moving Forward
((SOT))
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
Because I was an SIV applicant, I ended up in the one of evacuation flights for a month and a half in a refugee camp. And after that, when we came to San Diego, I stayed with my cousin.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Paying Back
((SOT))
((Bismack Biyombo
Phoenix Suns Player))
I have a dream to play in the NBA. I can achieve it and I must achieve it and I'm going for it and nothing's going to stop me.
((Banner))
Lifting Up
((SOT))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
There's a lot of feedback that I've made big impacts on people's lives with the work I've done. There's nothing really more fulfilling than knowing you're doing something good in the world.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) HANGOUT-OLOGY WITH DAVID AMRAM
((TRT: 07:41))
((Topic Banner: Bop Till You Drop))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: Beacon, New York))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub characters: 2 female; 1 male))
((NATS: Music))
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
He’s gonna sing the blues to you.
Get yourself a bottle of bourbon
before the evening is through.
((David Amram
Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
So I try to get up and what I think maybe I should go back to sleep for 25 hours till I catch up.
This is a hulusi from China.
((NATS: Music))
((David Amram
Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
I managed to get an upright position and then go for there, hope for the best. And as Dizzy Gillespie was asked, “What are you going to do when you retire?” He said, “I'll never retire. My philosophy is, ‘Bop till you drop’” And keeping that feeling, and that feeling, that thing that touches your heart, that's the mystery. That's the magic. There's no recipe for that except to stay in
((Courtesy: David Amram))
the University of Hangout-ology, no matter how many degrees you have or if you don't have any.
((NATS: Music))
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
((Kenneth Radnofsky
Professor of Saxophone, New England Conservatory))
David Amram was multicultural before multiculturalism existed.
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
He has always had a curiosity and fascination with people.
((David Amram
Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
This is the doumbek or they call it a darbuki or a tabla or a tov, depending on which country you go to. But it’s all essentially very similar instruments.
((NATS: Music))
((Adira Amram
Daughter, Performer))
He's worked with so many incredible people that sometimes, as an adult, I'll look at something that he's done and it's kind of like
((Courtesy: David Amram))
I'm just like, “What? How did you know that person?” Like the connections that he has, it's just so…there's such a vast array of people too, from so many different worlds. Like collaborators that he's worked with are kind of the greats in their field. And they all love Dad.
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
((NATS: Music))
((Adira Amram
Daughter, Performer))
After dinner - my mom would make these amazing dinners. After dinner,
((Courtesy: David Amram))
we would all play music together and we had such incredible artists that came to stay with us. And everyone would take out a guitar and just start jamming. And my brother would play the drums. My sister would play guitar. I would kind of like bang on something. And now it's like any time we have a holiday,
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
everybody at some point, as soon as dinner is over, it's like instruments come out and everybody's jamming. We call it kind of like Amram Jam.
((NATS: Music))
((David Amram
Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
But when the jazz players would harmonize that.
((NATS: Music))
And then the four.
((NATS: Music))
((Kenneth Radnofsky
Professor of Saxophone, New England Conservatory))
You can listen to one piece of music and you can hear an integration and a love for Arab culture, Jewish culture, Pan African, Pakistani, Irish. And you could hear it in one piece. You could even hear it in one movement, just the same as with Mozart. The moment you hear his music, you know it's David Amram.
((NATS: Music))
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
((David Amran
Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
My first true musical experience was when I was six years old and my father bought me a bugle. [He] took out this shiny bugle and started playing it himself before I could even touch it. And after about 10 minutes…of not being able to get much of a sound, he handed it to me. I went…and I hit a sound and actually it was like music. I was blown away. I said, “Oh, my Lord.” So I fell in love with that. And then I used to listen to the radiators and they would, in the middle of the night, would start clacking and playing all kind of…all these different sounds. And I got into the idea of rhythms, listening to those different rhythms of the radiators. So when I heard big bands playing or I heard the Bach Brandenburg concertos and heard all that polyphony, many voices at the same time, all being together but playing different stuff, I could relate to that because it was something that I had experienced viscerally as a little boy, making that first sound on the bugle and hearing those rhythms from the radiators.
((David Amran
Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
Here's the first stage, when I'm sitting there grinding it out. You could see I changed my mind a few times. Then, that's when I finally decide what it should be. That's just an example of unaccompanied violin piece I’m writing.
((NATS: Music))
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
((Alana Amram
Daughter, Musician))
He is an actor. He’s a performer. He’s a really great friend. And what else? He’s just a strange, wonderful man.
((NATS: Music))
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
((NATS: Kenneth Radnofsky
Professor of Saxophone, New England Conservatory))
David Amran has composed more than 110 orchestral and chamber works and performed as conductor, soloist and narrator with Chicago, Philadelphia Orchestra and Houston Symphonies, just to name a few. Jamie Sommerfeld calls David Amran a force of nature. Madam President, I am honored to present to you David Amran, to receive an honorary Doctorate of Music from the New England Conservatory.
((Courtesy: Lawrence Kraman))
((NATS: Audience cheers))
((David Amran
Composer, Conductor, Multi-Instrumentalist))
The Native American people believe that all of this was a gift to us by the Great Creator. And whatever religion we are, we are all gifted by music as being something we’ll never understand but we know is bigger than us and nutritious and valuable.
((Courtesy: David Amram))
((NATS: Music))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Coming to America
((SOT))
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
I do plan to have them go to the Islamic center so that they are aware of the Islamic values, the cultures. I do want them to become Americans but I also do want them to be, at the same time, Afghans.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) AFGHAN REFUGEE SAN DIEGO
((TRT: 03:39))
((Topic Banner: Starting Over))
((Reporter/Camera: Genia Dulot))
((Map: San Diego, California))
((Main character: 1 male))
((NATS: Prayer of the Muslim community in San Diego))
((NATS: Shakib Nawabi, Imam, Darululoom Mosque))
Our men and our women, who should practice the din of Allah, show the people the lifestyle.
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
I never planned to go out of Afghanistan. I decided that I will be staying in Afghanistan for as long as I can and work as hard as I can to make a difference in the country.
((NATS))
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
Just a couple of months before the US withdrawal or the Kabul’s fall to Taliban, I was still working in Afghanistan and I still had hopes, everybody had hopes that things were going to get better. There’s going to be peace treaty and the current government and the Taliban leadership are going to agree on peace deals and things are going to get better and better.
When the government fell and when the US troops left, that’s when we decided that it might be a good time for us to reconsider our home.
Due to the work background that I had with my previous employer, I probably would have been in danger. Regardless of that, due to the uncertainty and everything that was going on, it just wasn’t worth the risk of staying any more.
I have two older daughters and my son was only six months old when we came.
((NATS))
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
Because I was an SIV applicant [Special Immigrant Visas for Iraqi and Afghan Translators], I ended up in the one of evacuation flights for a month and a half in a refugee camp. And after that, when we came to San Diego, I stayed with my cousin for some time, looking for permanent housing.
I already had a job when I came. I was continuing to work with the company that I used to work for and I still work with them and I have pride in that.
((NATS))
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
Some foreign clients that are based in other countries, let’s say in the US and Canada and the UK, and they have operations in Afghanistan, they need staffing services. They need accounting service. They need procurement and vetting services and so on. We basically provide that for them in country in Afghanistan.
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
I am always an ambitious person. I always believe that there is room for improvement. I worked on my education equivalents and had to get the US equivalency for my international qualifications that I had. Now, I’ve registered with the US CPA [licensing certification for accounting professionals in the US].
((NATS))
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
I plan to establish my own accounting firm down the line someday, plus any business ventures that I can come across, I am going to grab those opportunities.
((NATS: Abu Baker Samoon))
Now’s a good time.
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
I definitely started to feel like this is the new home. We are starting to get acquainted to it but I do want to keep in mind that Afghanistan is also my home.
((Genia Dulot
Reporter))
How about your kids? I mean, they are going to grow up Americans.
((Abu Baker Samoon
Afghan Refugee))
Oh, yeah. That is going to be a challenge. I do plan to keep them, you know, into the community, have them go to the Islamic center so that they are aware of the Islamic values, the cultures. I do want them to become Americans but I also do want them to be, at the same time, Afghans. I want them to have not just one language but three languages, which is both of my national languages, Pashto and Dari, as well as English. I want all of that to go parallel and I’ll definitely work hard on making sure that I do achieve that goal.
((NATS))
((PKG)) NBA PLAYER GIVING BACK
((TRT: 04:45))
((Topic Banner: Giving Back))
((Reporter: Sahar Mohammadi)) ((Producer/Camera/Editor: Betty Ayoub))
((VOA Africa))
((Map: Phoenix, Arizona))
((Main character: 1 male))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo Foundation))
((Bismack Biyombo
Phoenix Suns Player))
I'm Bismack Biyombo, a child of Africa. I stepped onto a basketball court at the age of 13 in Lubumbashi.
((NATS/MUSIC))
I have a dream to play in the NBA [National Basketball Association] and at some point, that dream turned into a goal like I can achieve it and I must achieve it and I'm going for it, you know, and nothing going to stop me.
((NATS/MUSIC))
As a kid, you know, they say you dream big and you obviously got to know your dream, see your dream and go get it, right? But you need the support of people around you.
And I was lucky enough to have, you know, parents that supported me.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo))
((Bismack Biyombo
Phoenix Suns Player))
It was not an option to turn around and fail because I was lucky enough that my dad
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo))
and obviously, eventually my mom believed so much in my dreams that they were willing to sacrifice and pull out their own money for me to chase my dream. We made those decision for a purpose and we're
((Courtesy: NBA))
living a dream. And now we've set bigger goals and we're going for it.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo Foundation))
In 2012, we launched the Bismack Biyombo Foundation to provide opportunities to children of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
((Bismack Biyombo
Phoenix Suns Player))
I grew up in an environment where giving was easy for my family. My mom, my dad, they enjoyed giving. That, for us, become like second nature. So, the day before I go home, I decided like I'm going to buy some shoes, call our equipment manager, just get a bunch of stuff, jerseys, shorts, T-shirts.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo Foundation))
And I'll go home and give these kids, you know, an opportunity to have like new pair of shoes and all these things because I didn't have a brand-new pair of shoes, you know. So, I spent my 16 years of being young, wearing somebody else's shoes pretty much, you know.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo))
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo Foundation))
So, I'm going to do a basketball camp and I will be the DJ. I will be the coach.
It was too overwhelming for me.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo))
But the joy you receive from them, I think I was so grateful for it. I remember going that day to bed and sleep like a baby.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo Foundation))
The foundation is currently building an international school in Lubumbashi. And each year, we award more than 150 scholarships within the DRC and the U.S.
((Bismack Biyombo
Phoenix Suns Player))
My job becomes to inspire kids across Congo and make sure that we give all of them an equal opportunity.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo Foundation))
The more accessible and affordable health care is also at the center of our mission through our medical facility renovation, training and equipment donations.
((Bismack Biyombo
Phoenix Suns Player))
There is an opportunity to make an impact and I don't want to waste it.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo))
You know, my dad was 61 and for the first time, you know, he checked into the hospital.
((Bismack Biyombo
Phoenix Suns Player))
It's just one of those days you wake up, you have a feeling like, “I have to go home and take care of my dad.” The situation was perhaps worse than I expected. If anybody would have tell me to give up all my money for my dad, I would have, you know.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo))
And it's just, you know, nothing mattered
((Bismack Biyombo
Phoenix Suns Player))
that moment but to help my dad get healthier. But when that didn't happen now and that my dad has passed. So from that moment, I think the words, basketball, everything stop, you know, and I realize that I couldn't quit basketball because of what happened to my dad. You know, he would be so disappointed because he knew how much I love basketball
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo))
and he knew how much basketball allow me to help a lot of people.
((Bismack Biyombo
Phoenix Suns Player))
So, then when I called my agent, now what I kind of told him was,
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo))
I'm going to play the game again because I think I'm ready. But also, we use this year's salary to help people back home. And I want to build my dad an hospital that will continue servicing people because he believed in one guy, which is me. And now we get to do it for him.
((Courtesy: Bismack Biyombo))
((MUSIC))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Writing on the Wall
((SOT))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
I do get some graffiti on my murals from time to time. I just go and clean it up. Kids or whatever with spray paint cans. I've never really like gone super critical towards them because I remember being young and dumb and doing stuff.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) MURAL ARTIST HENRY WARD
((TRT: 07:12))
((Topic Banner: Art for All))
((Reporter/Camera: Natasha Mozgovaya))
((Editors: Jacquelyn De Phillips, Natasha Mozgovaya))
((Map: Seattle, Washington))
((Main character: 1 male))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
My name is Ryan Henry Ward and I sign my art Henry. I'm an artist located in Seattle. I've spent the majority of my life in the Pacific Northwest. I was born in Bozeman, Montana. I spent ten years of my life there and then moved to Washington with my family and have lived in the Pacific Northwest ever since. I've painted close to 500 murals, most of them within the city of Seattle but all over the state of Washington and then a handful of murals outside of the state.
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
I'm painting a Sasquatch and kind of a self-portrait, obviously. He likes his coffee. I like my coffee.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
There's a lot of Pacific Northwest and Seattle kind of elements in this painting. So we've got Mt. Rainier, which is a big volcano, mountain close to Seattle.
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
And then there's the Seattle skyline in the background with the Space Needle. We're the Evergreen State. So I put an evergreen tree in there.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
I actually enjoy people coming up and talking to me when I'm painting. I think it's really important as a public artist, someone who's out putting a lot of images out in the city and kind of defining a city with my imagery to like give people that look at it, a moment of my time, so they know that the person putting up the artwork is relatable. Sometimes if I'm on a really busy road where there's like a lot of cars, so it's kind of combating that aggressive noise energy and not allowing that into my artwork, so I can still present my soft, loving artwork to the world.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((NATS: Ryan Henry Ward, Seattle Artist))
They like it right under the ears.
((NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
I do get some graffiti on my murals from time to time. But my response has always been, I just go and clean it up. I'm very fortunate that I get the opportunity to paint murals in a big city. And big cities have graffiti and they got a lot of kids, you know, 14-year-old kids or whatever with spray paint cans running around. I've never really like gone super heavy critical towards them because I can relate. Like I remember being young and dumb and doing stuff.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
Right now, I think my favorite mural is the one right above my gallery here. It's kind of a really recent one and it just was completely what I wanted to do without any input. And that was really nice.
((NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
I got in this four-wheeler accident and it was an 800 pound [363 kg] four-wheeler. I went over the handlebars and I kind of went over this ten-foot [3 m] cliff and it flipped over and landed on top of me. I was underneath it for like a half-hour and as I was underneath it, it just kept squishing me. I was in a severe pain. So I had sustained a really bad, severe back injury from that accident. And I became very much a drug addict and got addicted to opiates and got addicted to alcohol and just kind of got into heavy, really heavy use of those things so I could originally kind of manage my pain. And then it just kind of shifted into addiction. I lived on the streets for a while.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
I felt like it was okay for a while. I kind of felt like I was thinking in terms of like, I was thinking romantically about it, like I was like a Beat Poet or something like that. Like I was thinking of myself more like a Henry David Thoreau or like a Jack Kerouac. I kind of had that like romantic ideal. So it wasn't like...I was kind of living in denial of my situation for a while. And then like the reality of it kind of sets in: it's hard out there and it's dangerous out there. And I saw a lot of brutal things, living on the streets.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
And yeah, it's been about ten years since then. I just live with a sober mind and I do all this artwork from a perspective of clarity, I guess.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
So the hair is kind of over his face and he doesn't have like high-functioning limbs and the colors are more muted. And so this is kind of like pulling on a feeling of like I still want to like participate and show up for the day but I don't really want to be around other people or I don't want to be seen.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
I didn't really want to be a traditional fine artist. I wasn't interested in like a, you know, gallery and museum kind of direction and exposure. I just wanted to do it my own way. And so I decided to kind of break and shift away from the “no contact with the art.” And so I created more of like a record store kind of feel to my place where you could shuffle through the art with your hands and it allows you to just dig in and kind of discover the art that you want. And then you get to pull it out and put it on a display wall.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
I'm working on an animation project and that's kind of like where I'm investing a lot of my time and energy right now, is into stop motion animation.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
I have the desire to share my artwork and my love and joy and experiences and everything with the entire world.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ryan Henry Ward
Seattle Artist))
There's a lot of feedback that I've made big impacts on people's lives with the work I've done. There's nothing really more fulfilling than knowing you're doing something good in the world.
((MUSIC/NATS))
CLOSING BUMPER ((ANIM))
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BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
