Tuning In

In a departure from the historical first episode of Tuning Baghdad, Tuning In, offers a social soundscape of contemporary rehearsals and practice sessions from within the Iraqi-Jewish community. As if to drop you right in the middle of a private Arabic musical gathering, layered with the textures of tuning, playing, laughing, singing, heckling, coughing, and adulating, these extended live sessions bring you closer to these intimate private settings Basha had the privilege of recording.

Tuning Baghdad asks the question: can there be a musical citizenship? through Basha's explorations into the musical history of the Iraqi-Jewish diaspora. Each episode features home recordings of the last generation of Iraqi Jewish musicians of Baghdad still performing today and beloved arabic songs from Egypt and other countries that intersect with the ensemble instruments and musical scale of the Maqam. Occasionally, Basha shares "mystery mixtapes" from her own family archives.

For the past 2 decades, Brooklyn-based curator and producer of tuningbaghdad.net Regine Basha, has curated exhibitions and public projects internationally, with a specific focus on sound installation and musical cultures. Growing up in Montreal, Los Angeles, and New York, Basha attended Iraqi-Jewish gatherings throughout her childhood, where she was lulled to sleep by the twang of a khanoun. Her curatorial history may be found at bashaprojects.com

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