Maneli Jamal – Movement I – Awakening (2012)

Maneli Jamal – Movement I – Awakening (2012)

Maneli Jamal plays some great stuff on this video..

If you are into fingerstyle you will enjoy this one.

This video was put out by CandyRat Records- famous for putting out the highest quality acoustic guitar recordings and videos…

One of the first posts I did was on Maneli back in July 2, 2012. Check this one out too: http://acousticguitarvideos.com/13/fingerstyle-champion-maneli-jamal-klingerstrasse/

Here’s a bio on Maneli from his website which also has a documentary style video on him … click here for this page…

” Maneli Jamal is both a solo act as well as an instrumental guitar player, yet he manages to play with conviction that transcends words and obvious melodies.

It’s very hard to talk about Maneli Jamal the guitarist without first elaborating on Maneli Jamal the person. The man has had an interesting past to say the least, and though he’s only in his 20s, his experiences could fill up a number of notebooks with compositions.

Born in Belarus and of Iranian descent, Maneli was raised in Cologne, Germany. His family then moved to the States in his adolescence, immigrating to Minnesota before relocating to Austin, Texas until his late teens. At this time, his family was issued a deportation letter by the immigration office, and they were forced to claim refuge in Canada within thirty days of receiving the notice.

Taking literally only what they could fit in their hands, Jamal and his family arrived in Toronto after establishing their lives in Austin, TX. It was at this time that Maneli got an acoustic guitar from his father for his 16th birthday, which has scarcely left his hands since.

“I carried it on the plane, and everywhere I went, I had it”, Maneli recalls. “For half a year, we only had what we had in our hands, and I had that cheap acoustic guitar in my hands with no case. Going through something like that, as a teenager especially, you need an outlet that can take you away from life and zone you out. That’s what the acoustic guitar did for me.”

Maneli had played in punk and metal bands throughout his teens, so he was no stranger to the six-string. However, the acoustic guitar held new secrets for him to discover, and thus began his exploration of the virtuosic style he’s since mastered. Utilizing a mix of classical, flamenco and percussive playing, Maneli composes unique movements which are far outside the realm of traditional songwriting.

“I’m more into letting the music flow as opposed to having a songwriter’s structure, like a traditional pop song would have,” he explains. “I’m trying to gear it more towards how a classical player or a movie composer would create music, which rarely has a structure like that. Its all about visualizing the music.”

“When I came [to Toronto], I was very into classical playing, but after a while I got tired of practicing and trying to master a technique. I got out of that whole thing and tried to master melody and rhythm as opposed to trying to master the technicality of things. I’m not a fluid player, but that’s what I think makes music art, that imperfect playing.”