artbound was made possible in py the national endowment for the , the los angeles county arts com, the department of cultural affas boing, the california endowment, the california humanities,

then? to go to work? music [music playing, d howling]

sam music iall arou. ight? crowd chring] sing: ♪ tngs are fferent today ba in new york

i led down third seet way back in thday there we junkie pimps and whes hallelah noit' squeakylean the'so place ft to st hey♪ samihey,here. name is sami ffa, and'm rock an rolglobetroer with anndless ciosity out al thgs musil. sinci was years old, i've en traveng arod this sceship eth, long its mic witho litations or genre restrictns, divi head fit in unchart cultureand theiroundsces everyhance i got. still quch my thst by toing withock and ll bandsnow i'm also dng it rough th show. whats music?ow does

affect t daily les of ea and ery onef us? ye, you hear it erywhereelevator rs, aiorts. buit has becomene big n-descrip allpaper. we allave ourpods and plaists to olates inde a prite bubbl turn on the radiand all u hear i ayola, rord compies pushg the xt big ing, hopg to rike go. i wanto dig deer. iant to expre the irediblrich musal hetage of is planewhile it's sti here. want toind out y music belgs to beg human such a funmental w. why doe need itrhythm,sound, nes, melod making happy osad, ntemplate, even d. it

unites u and atits verbest, can chae the wod. [musiclaying] new yorhit me hd the fit time came herin '. it's theapitalf the world, repsenting ery culture, nguage,ood, andeligion. d of crse, mus. the ci that ner sles has bn my home r a quarr of aentury. i've tried to lve it bend a te or two, bujust when i tnk i'm out, pulls mback in. thhistorand the ergy f this pce is unue. no ple like i in theworld. you wa to hearndian muc night? nproblem.very sty

of sic imagable--cun, fmenco, sba, rumb bulrian gyp musicyou name it, 'slayed li somewhe re in e city. woan: [sinng indisnctly] sa: new yo is an amal in a ate of cstant metamphosis. never sps. it ju sheds i skin ye ter yearthere's never dull moment. [rock mic playi] the ener of musiis irrestible tme. en when was jt a smalkid, i w captivat by its wer. it's somethinspiritua primal at peaks stight to . when a go band pls togeth, you can't reay explaiwhy it works soell. it's unwrten emistry magnetiand ful

ofitality.t's state of addictn alwaysn searchf the next f. i've been cky. i've hadhe oppornity to isomereat rocand rol nds in mtimehanoi ros, new yo dolls, an jettand the blahearts, d juana,o nameut a few [rock muc playin the ggs come from my eighborhd in brolyn. geoe alsolays in band d juana. butn the jugs, he xes roc anroll witblues anr&b with uniqu results [indiinct sinng] ruing a ba in new rk is harwork. is towis expensiv you neeto pay yr ren feed yorself, ive. i's

rare make a ving jusby pying mus. you ne other soues of inme. the ggs keeprindinyear aft year, still lieving themsels an in e future karm. kareem: anks foraving me mi: whatade you nt to co to w york? kareem: 'sne of the chihood dams. i jt always wated to bhere. anthe musi nd art. is is thplace to be. sami: yh. what you thi abut the n york ste of muical min and howo you think e new yo music sne is nodays? kareem: think i's sll alive and kicng, but cause of ecnomics a the ct of ling, it's harto be in a band. ke, whener, like kid wilask me, y, i wan to moveo new yo. oromebody tour,h, i'd love live in new yo. i'like, ifou' tourg and dng youthing somewhe else anyou' making a livin don't come he. if y're n alreadymbedded, y can't do itit' jt to much sam you kno when i ved over re in 19 and, yoknow, mosother pele, theyad to ha two jobin ordero be able toake theidreams ce

te, you kw, whichnables them play. y know, bause t takes lot of gs, i thi, rom a loof bandshat, you kn, they l--they d e weeke gigs ery weekd, th go to wk. karm: if y're a starvg aist, yo'lldie here ock musiplaying] ♪ itumbled oh n is lonese [distinct thini might ad down sout yeah seef jesus ally sin ♪ sami:hat doesusic meato you, m? kareemi kind osee art

e same tng. i wento colle to be ariter. iwas like, and al, i' paint a i'll drawi play sic. anfor me, it's t same emion, sam side of bra is workg. it'like--i's, , an addtion, a mpulsionbut when i et peoplthat don't makeny noiseor do anythi artist or haveny like ssion wi anythin it frea me out little b. it's le, wel, wh do you ve for then? too to wor music sustai me. iteans erything me. if wasn't doingt, i don't know wt would ppen. sami:eah, it's kindf shrink. kaeem: yea mi: it rlly is. keeps m sane a insane the sam time. y know wh i mean? kareemyou kn what, h about this. just plan on king a recd every two yearuntil i keel or and th put me a box.nd if soone likethem ler, so bit. anif not, aot of muc. sa: exactl you lt them se stuf kareem: p, exact. that's what did. samiyeah, ma exact. nice toave you,an. kaem: yeahman. sa: exactl kaem: rit on samigod spe, man.

chris♪ ah, ah i'm tryg to see he moo mama blast of you, ma ♪ sami: lcome tolanet brklyn. what's lefof it. gentrication. blacknd latin nghborhoo are sloy being aken oveby wealt white peop. in thpast, thonly white fes here re artis or musians. fortten gheos are ving a felift ashe rich pants ofhe colle kids willing line thpockets the grey landlos. chri ♪ ver seen winter every wter i m or the sundressed nkissedhowers the ran su clouds,un showe ♪ sami: thnatives n't ford toive herenymore, ving out of new rk city midwest wonderbad masses migrate into theood. chri ♪ want to lk into a job unl i quithat ♪ samithe vibend the htory ofhe places slowlyecoming einct as turns into a hogenized e size fs all

burbia.ip-hoprtist cis ust is tested in g coepts antrue sries. rping abo bling obitches anhoes jusain'his styl chr wantso tell ories about fe in brklyn. the arever 8 miion stors walkinground th city. 's his miion to tnslate tm io poet, to me the liener stoand thin chris: ♪ you d 'ause i an't like you wo 9:00 to:00 dreamain' like yo ai't ner seen e vatica but pralike you man, i'm tryg to mak a thrill be thereat micel do rememr as a ltle boy had the ing jansrt, j cr rl guess ans i packedags i madeood i ways stad ean with tho kind ofoods could he been athing evry now a then yoget a coup of drm kilers rather wch jay tn be j ther genext in play fir ring if i wa't rely being ias doingther things strukilling the sce getti people ke a dg ifou live brookly youas trying to be a ng

aing ng wos all iny rings sick d miss dg said ias a sta uhuhh i'm tryinto see he moon mam ast off u, mama yeah eah 'm trng to tu water intowine sits in a brick yea eah tryinto see t moon, ma blast off you,ama i'm tryg to turwater into wi tell hi no one♪ sami: h, chris. chri: hey, at's going o, man? saminice to et you. ris: nicto meet u as wel sami: anks foroing witus. cis: thanyou, man no, thk

u for hang me. samiwe' like ibrooklyn brookl. ris: we brooklybrooklyn. samiyeah. chris: for real, foreal. thi is brolyn. sami: yea you werborn and rsed here, rht? chris: was bornnd raisein rooklyn,ed-stuy,rooklyn. was rn in may projec, right wn here flushinand rk. andhen i mod out, startetravelinall arou rooklyn,ike parklope and fort gren and cwn heigs. samiyeah, ye. chs: bushwk. like, i've be arnd all obrooklyn. sami: w did yoget into sic? chrisi was alys, you ow, in music bause of father. you know, --and myom. welso had e weeken tht he plad michaejackson and, y know, p methenynd jean-l ponty. d, you kw, they ways to me tha in orr toelate toomeone tt u'veever seen or never heard you've kindf got to opeup your lette fomusic. and mic has smuch to fer. and, yoknow, i s alwaysery ca spirtual mucian. iay ve noknn the nos or butf i hearmusic, ianced. i w always ving. ju like

the kids he. you kw, you st hear and t energy st takes u. i stuled upon hihop. i dn't- didn't know i couldo it. myrothers,e ed to al be in he hous eestylig. and iwould ner do it. b i'happy tbe able to ke put wds togetr that ople cou, you kn, enjoy. mi: rete to. ris: i fl--we've been ing e same qtes for ke the la 30 ars in h-h. and the's much mo to fer on a worldevelyou know.o i justlwaysas a fan of bei culture i never wand to hav-i felt ke in oer to ha a real inion aboutomethinglike, ife were a here taing and u sai you kno the skys red and disagre, i can't just disagr with yo i have be le to kn wat i'm talkin abt and be le to rely deba it. so was real a big faon that so in rder to thati had too resear. so i that acrosshe board sami: at abo your lycs? where doou pull those om? chris:eal life samireal lif ris: younow, eveday life if it's not story, 'sl's story,t's ur storyi try to pu from amany re expiences apossible

somimes thakind of ts me a litt bit of ouble because order tpull fro realxperienc, you ha to experiee real tngs. so'm ways, le--i'm a serl lifer. 'm serial- have to live . we allave a sty to tell. an i had--ou know, wha's de about ooklyn i that w're l neigors. so our stor i'e watcheyou growp. mayberom, younow, anothereighborhd away, t i still tched yo you kno we l play athe samearks. we all, y know, ink fr the me fountn. we algo to t same ftivals.e all--mae not souch now,ou kw, becau of the reingration,ou know,nd theegentrifation asar as lie, you kw, commuty is concern and a l of out towrs areoming he now an uying upll the pperty an stuffbut the're ill--you know, th still bome brooklytes evenally, so i ca'tbut i denitely pl frolike realife, stight up. ♪get it gett oh bust get , turn u all y rooklyn out her

oh oh gie me tha young m gie me tha ye yeh yeah say it i'm tryi to see e moon, ma ast off u, mama o oh ♪ let msee someae nae. ere e nae naat? we c't o it? we can st it. o get it.et it ♪h, oh, tryingo see thmoon, ma ast off u, mama [woman valizing] yeahyeah ♪ wht'that? bo. boom. sa: what's nexfor you? chri i have project ming out that ebby s a lot cuts on.t's lled "aool, cru world it'basicall li the juxpositionetween like, y know, t ironyf how cool li can be d how crl it cane. but 's to from a persctive of 60-yearld

man. 's hard toetrospec things hat you n't ally understd, you kw. so a t of thexperienc that i ve gonthrough,'m ust now ing, ah man, i uld have d that dferent. t how do you that wh you're literlly livg it at theoment? y don't underand it. yodon'know howo rlly, younow-- sam you do't he persptive. chrisexactly.o wh i did s--well,hat me a al decidedo do, weaid, yo,ow about weind of ph it int the fute whenou' like a 60-yr-old maand you ve everhing. sohe wholehing came fm like j-z and kye andike thes-you kw, there was lot of uappinessn he indusy from t outside looki in. evebody's gettingattaininall this succs, theystill unppy. a i'm heret the ttom ting to aain thatame succs and i'm likewell, hy? the're unhappy.o i saidok, well what aut if i'm an o man and i've tten allhe succe. i haveo familyi have n frnds, but havall the sucss. whatthat wou ben awesomstory, h he got there.o imagina man a thne witnobody tshare it wh. so weell thattory fro likeifferentoints inime.

so thatill be--at will a de projec sami: you neeany bassr guitarman, givme a cal chr: oh, ma we mighhave to do thatman. we finitely might ve to dohat. [jazz sic playg] sam i grewup withjazz. i wamaybe ev re presenin y young ars thanock and rol. my sist and my other to re of myusical ucation eeping mheart anmind ope

to all sortof musicteaching me th this coination any ape or rm is alys bad f e soul. e soundtrack of hildhoodome was eclecti mixape of a things od-- jazz,ock, blu, classil, th list go on. the truetlayer ro hargroe has be called heir tohe thronand crn of miles dav. this mulple gram award winneras been aying wi such jz giantss herbie hanck and wton marsis. mr. harove's music ses elemts of ja, funk, lain, and p-hophe rare givesnterview but lucly r us, mrharove fnd som time chat wi us abt his backgrnd in phosophy ckstage the legdary blu notelub. ro i oweverythinto my ve fir band dictor, n. um, i was in ementary hool and we hadn assemb of all e kids.

and band dictor at e time was guy namedean hil and heum, he h a verspecial thi where hwould ke all the ung pple inrested iplaying eir inrument ballowi us performontempory, you know, sic, stu that we eard on e radiall the me. so, you ow, this kept ou nterest . and helso show how to provise. [mus playing ou know,ust likeeally ki f based the bes. an this w somethi that,h, you know, wh i saw tse kids getti up and king sos like th, i was ke, man, ally wa to len how too that.o he wasriendsith peopllike dav "fathea nean and rert sands and a lot othe dall, texas sicians that, yoknow, we

inthe areaand he uld ha them comand demotrate fo us. anas soon i saw tm makinall thatusic witut readi it, yoknow, became inspid by wanng to dohat self. u know, ck then, erybody s in mching ba anpeopletrumpeplayers re alwaysrying toplay asigh and loud a poible.o, mayna was ourero. [playi trumpet mi: the's a t of peoe that d't ow thereas a big jazzcene goi on inexas. you kw, becau everybo thinkit'just a,ou know, it' a lot ocountry sic and th's bout it. y: texass anotheplanet, man. si: yeah.xactly rht. roy: wn you t into mdle arica anlike dowin the untry inhe southit' likeyoung pele, you ow,

ty have smuch te on the hands d there's such wide open sce that l you cado rlly, youan practe, you knowit givesou a lotf time to prtice andeally geyour stuff gether, u know. ound hee it's diicult bause i's fast aneverybo's onop f ea other. , you kn, en you're in the cnt, you get a lot re room spread ut. mi: whenid you e up in n yor roy: i came herin 1990. sami: how d they--w did it inuence yocoming tnew york? roy: wl, new yk just has that ing, manit has-- has at--it's in e air. 's ju kindf a--the'so much story oguys thahave come angone andeen herend that ve put eir musiout in he atmosere. youan'help but reay just sk it up. sami: ye. exactl man. lien, i d't wt to keepyou anore longyou knowlonger. and do ur thing roy: ah, ye. i goto touch withy piano ayer. i t this w song want tory. sami:ll rightcool, ma roy: ♪ and ju with oncaress

my wod was orturned om the very stt all bridgesurned by mylaming hrt u would't lve me wld you? n't ke theog you coul'turt me could yo never leme go ooh nev let me go ♪ azz musiplaying]

mic hey, th is mickey. leme in. kck, knoc knock rock mus playing whoa! h! uh! uh! singing distinct] sami: neyork isor at let it useto be, t mecca opunk rock mic. the reads e old uddies omine. we after ek, yeaafter ye, they py e small ubs of nor