Lady in the Shoe Productions is at work upon a novel and full length motion picture. Producer, director, author Kalima Lewis has asked Dawoud to compose the music for the film, and co-edit the book. Details as they unfold.

Dawoud recently accepted a commission to contribute sitar tracks to the single "Blessed Mustapha" by Khalil Muhammad!  Visit  http://www.myspace.com/khaleelmuhammadlive and http://www.khaleelmuhammad.com/.

Work on Dawoud's next CD is coming along well. Y'all will be in for a real treat when it comes out!

Dawoud also began work on a seven part suite based on the Night Journey and Miraj of the Prophet Muhammad (sas). Dawoud got the idea when he realized a corrolation between the "Isra wa Miraj (from the biography of the Prophet Muhammad [sas] when he left his body, went to Jerusalem, and ascended to the seven levels of heaven) and the chakras of the human body.  Each movement will represent one of the levels fo heaven, and be musically designed to stimulate the corrosponding chakra (or Latif i Sitta: the Sufi equivolent of the chakras). Dawoud's sitar will be prominently featured throughout; but other instrumentation will be used, and many parts of the suite will be basis for improvisations. Currently in the research phase, the project promises to be Dawoud's "Magnum Opus".

Last November, Dawoud finished the soundtrack for a film by independent director Fareen Butt. More details to come.

Andother project Dawoud was involved in was a soundtrack of an independent film called RAM (dir. Edwin Porres): a sci-fi short about a robot that dreams its human. Very "Philip K. Dick!"

Sad News: on Thursday, November 24th, 2005, my father Henry "Kris" Kringle died of natural causes in his home in Milwaukee, WI. at the age of 72. He was a good man; kind, loving, and always doing charitable works. He deserves to be remembered.

Dawoud

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Reviews: What they are saying...

"DAWOUD - Renegade Sufi (Mystic Jaz/self-produced) Featuring Dawoud on sitar, sitar synth, guitars, flute, raita, ting-sha, percussion, voice & assorted unearthly noises; Mordior Bamba on vocals; Tonya Ridgley on flute & vocals; Danny Zanker & Mark Hagan on basses and Ravish Momin on percussion. Local sitarist Dawoud has been coming down to DMG for many years and has even played here once. I hadn't heard of sitar synth before, but here it is. This is modern sitar music, not doing ragas and even uses some drum machine samples as percussion. The lovely chanting vocals singing Peace on Earth make this sound like it would be radio-friendly. I do like the instrumental tracks more than the vocal ones and the instrumental ones make up the majority of these pieces. On Burn the Idols, the flute and sitar play an enchanting melody with layers of echoes over a hypnotic, looped percussion groove. What I dig the most about this is the way Dawoud uses subtle layers of spacey, electronic samples that float around his central sitar playing, adding some mystery to what some might think they already anticipate will happen. Groovy mood music that is not too demanding but still is still enticing"
BLG. Dwontown Music Gallery

"Dawoud's sitar (sang) with rich rhythms."
Yusef Salaam. Amsterdam News, New York City.

"Dawoud and his sitar created a soothing atmosphere. The people meditated, absorbed in the creative mystic sounds. The audience enjoyed traveling musically with Dawoud & the New Culture in a pilgrimage state of spiritual inspiration"
Ali Rahman. New York Beacon.

"Dawoud's sitar was a revelation"
Benoir. World Beat Jazz Newsletter.

"A soulful ignition of jazz rhythms and blues infused with East Indian and African hypnotic sounds. A surefire hit for (those) who wish to gain a spiritual sense of inner calm. A must for eclectic music listeners"
Heather Covington. Disilgold Publications.

"Dawoud has a brand new album called "Renegade Sufi", a great atmospheric album that fuses mystic jazz influences to chill out atmospheres and oriental instruments, like his magical sitar."
Deadly Kristin

"They intertiwne together and at the same time move seperatly. The music is so beautiful and makes the experience so relaxing and refreshing in the world on free improvised music"
Christina McLean.

"In a world where evil forces have effectively hijacked not only the public's peace of mind but the very thing we call "religion," it is truly heartening to find spirited artists like Dawoud who understand, experience, and live true religion through their art. The essence of all religion is spiritual connectivity with the Divine; who better than a contemporary Renegade Sufi to bring the classical mysticism of Islam to the modern world?"
Azhar Usman; Stand up comedian

"Dawoud has succeeded in bringing a group together with a rather improvisational rhythmical fundament (bass, some programmed rhythms or percussion) with a very individual sound. The style is partly with an often rather loose chill-out groove, a partly jazzy improvisation. There are improvisations with sitar and flute combined, or sometimes sitar and acoustic guitar on one track. There are talks with a spiritual or philosophical fusion spoken word element, (on Freedom it is as a more frustrated expression –here like a kind of dub hiphop fusion). One the nicest and most successful moments I think is where bass and rhythm contribute to the evolution on Silent Sanctuary, groovy and appealing, a track with improvisations on sitar and acoustic guitar. The electronic sequenced grooves on the last title track Renegade Sufi I think are also very attractive in a different, also groovy way. All tracks hang well together with enough spontaneous variation in expression."

Gerald Van Waes. Psychevanhetfolk