The Listening Room
6 pm, Monday, March 24: Ray Kamalay’s Musical Flea Market: Trifles and Treasures from our Melodious Past
From
the time Ray Kamalay picked up the guitar so many years ago, he was
looking towards the past. While his young colleagues screeched with
distortion and feedback on their new electric guitars, Ray learned sweet
chords on his acoustic. Instead of listening to the radio for songs to
learn, Ray proceeded to the dusty archives in libraries and antique
stores. By the time he was in high school, Ray was endlessly
fascinated by old and even ancient music. That fascination continues.
Whether its Delta blues or J. S. Bach, the music of Ireland or the
music of Brazil, Ray has built a remarkably diverse and historic
repertoire of music that is familiar, intriguing and fun. His beautiful
voice and wry humor are matched by his fine mastery of the guitar. It
is remarkable that anyone can play so many different styles of music so
well.
But Ray doesn’t leave it at that. Besides the occasional joke (all “family” material, of course), Ray
often
tells the stories of the songs themselves, drawing the audience closer.
All of which exposes not only his fine talent, but his great love of
the music itself. Ray calls it “The Musical Flea Market: Trifles and
Treasures From Our Melodious Past”. Brought to you through the generosity of the Friends of Hackley Library.
“Kamalay’s purely acoustic guitar is an accomplished musical conception...but his main purpose is to sing great songs.”
-Lazaro Vega, WBLV-FM
“Ray wraps himself around the music in a manner that is not only stylistically but technically faultless.”
-Kalamazoo Gazette
“...and I thought I’d gone to heaven when Ray Kamalay and Joel Mabus rode high, hard and handsome duelling their swing guitars.”
-Village Voice (review of the Philadelphia Folk Festival)
“Ray has put together a collection of songs that deserves to be reviewed over and over again.”
-Hazen Schumacher, NPR’s Jazz Revisited
Ray
Kamalay is a Detroit native who has been a professional musician since
1974. He has performed at some of the most prestigious venues including
the Edinburgh Festival, Interlochen and the Philadelphia Folk Festival.
In 1998, his work with Howard and Ralphe Armstrong was nominated for
the W. C. Handy Award.
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