4B — Thursday, April 9, 2015
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ARTIST
PROFILE

IN

Hardworking blues 

rock guitarist a 
force in the local 

scene

By MATT BARNAUSKAS

Daily Arts Writer

Laith Al-Saadi is always play-

ing music. From Mondays at The 
Arena Sportsbar from 10:30 p.m. 
to 2:00 a.m. to playing solo acous-
tic Tuesdays at the Black Pearl 
from 8:00 to 11:00, then being 
at Weber’s Inn every Thursday 
from 8:45 p.m. until 12:45 a.m., 
the Ann Arbor native lives a life 
full of blues, jazz and rock music. 
He takes at least two road trips 
a month, spreading his music to 
other Michigan locales like Tra-

verse City and to states such as 
California and New Orleans. Sit-
ting down with the local guitarist 
and singer, I asked him when he 
decided to take this path. 

“I don’t think I decided that. I 

think it was necessary because I 
was so committed to making my 
living as a performer and doing 
nothing else,” Al-Saadi said.

For him, it started at Commu-

nity High School in Ann Arbor, 
where his band leader, Mike 
Grace, would let the best play-
ers, as jazz combos, go out and 
play gigs in the area. The young 
Al-Saadi found himself playing 
three to four night a week at Uni-
versity receptions and banquets 
at venues like Weber’s Inn that 
would become familiar stomp-
ing grounds for the 37-year-old 
musician.

“We didn’t make a lot of 

money, but we did make money 
off of those things, and we got 
the ethic that the work was out 
there if we hustled and got it. 
That really resonated strongly 
because I’ve never had a real job 
since I turned 16 and was able to 
drive. When I got my license, I 
quit my job at Briarwood and I 
had a car that could get the PA 
system around; I started booking 
my band on weekends and play-
ing during the week and that’s 
it.”

Since then Al-Saadi has con-

tinued to play and develop the 
musical style that was originally 
sparked listening to his older 
sisters’ Beatles records when he 
was a kid.

“I gravitated towards music of 

the late ’60s, early ’70s primarily 
when I was a kid and I liked the 
Beatles. Then I got into Cream 
and I got into Jimi Hendrix and 
Led Zeppelin. When I started 
playing guitar and learning that 
stuff, I found that the guitar play-
ers I most liked were really into 
blues and were mostly blues play-
ers. Even when I was a kid I was 
gravitating towards the music 
of Ray Charles and Louis Arm-
strong, stuff that had a strong 
Blues component and spiritual 
and gospel components as well, 
as far as harmonies and that stuff 
go. From there I went to BB King 
and Buddy Guy, then I got into 
the guys I think I’m more into 
today, once I dug a little deeper: 
the Albert Kings, Elmore James 
and Danny Gatton (who is one of 
my favorite guitarists),” Al-Saadi 
said.

It’s fascinating to listen to 

Al-Saadi talk about music and 
his influences. Lists of bands 
and musicians tie together with 
thoughts about locations that 
possess their own styles, which 
he then weaves into a completely 
new list of artists. From these 
threads, Al-Saadi’s words weave 
a rich tapestry, capturing years of 
blues and jazz history that span 
several regions of unique music. 

One 
such 
region 
is 
New 

Orleans, where Al-Saadi wrote 

three of the songs (“Gone,” “The 
Last Time You’ll See Me Cry” and 
“What It Means”) that appear on 
his latest album Real, released in 
2013. The album was produced 
by Grammy winning producer 
Jeffrey Weber, who Al-Saadi met 
when he was playing down in Los 
Angeles. Recorded straight to two 
track with no overdubs or editing, 
the album is representative of Al-
Saadi’s constant live performing.

“I think that most of the 

records that I love the most were 
that way, and trying to make 
recordings in the past, you’re try-
ing to capture this energy of what 
happens in a live performance 
and make that translate,” Al-Saa-
di said. “Especially when you’re 
playing music of the moment, 
music 
that 
is 
improvisation 

based, where people are listen-
ing and responding to stuff that is 
happening at the time, that’s the 
only way to capture it.”

Real is bolstered by the pres-

ence of prominent session musi-
cians such as Larry Goldings, 
Leland Sklar and Jim Keltner in 
the rhythm section and Conan 
O’Brien’s band leader, Jimmy 
Vivino, who flew out from New 
York to play in the nine-hour 
recording session at the Ocean 

Way Recording Studio in Holly-
wood. 

“I didn’t ask for Paul McCart-

ney and didn’t ask for people of 
that level, but the guys I did ask 
for were my favorite session play-
ers and heroes,” Al-Saadi said. 
“I didn’t really have an expecta-
tion that they would say yes, and 
we got every single person who 
was my first choice. I think by 
the time the players lined up, the 
other players getting involved in 
the session were more excited 
about doing it.”

Besides the New Orleans, Delta 

and spiritual roots on Real, there 
is the presence of Chicago Blues 
in songs like, “How It’s Gonna 
Be,” which Al-Saadi describes as 
influenced by Howling Wolf and 
Koko Taylor. Along with that is 
a cover of The Band’s “Ophelia,” 
a tribute to the late Levon Helm, 
to whom Al-Saadi dedicated the 
album.

Looking to his future, Al-Saadi 

is looking forward to continuing 
to perform live, notably April 17 at 
the Magic Bag with Jimmy Vivi-
no, who has co-headlined shows 
with Al-Saadi. He also plans to 
get back in the studio as soon as 
he can.

“I would say in the next year 

or two you will likely see a solo 
acoustic project from me and also 
another live to two track blues-
rock album. I’m always writing,” 
Al-Saadi said about his plans for 
new albums.

However, the veteran perform-

er cautions about the future of the 
art of live performance, particu-
larly within Ann Arbor.

“I have witnessed the change 

of live band to DJ take place, I’ve 
witnessed the demise of live ven-
ues in town. I remember when 
Rick’s American Cafe had great 
music and that was one of the best 
spots in town to play, that brought 
in great blues acts and stuff. Then 
it switched to dollar pitchers and 
DJs and stopped offering any-
thing of any quality and I feel like 
that’s where we’re at right now,” 
he said. “There’s so few venues 
in town with stages ... I think in 
order for things to change and 
to be able to support talent-wise 
what’s out there we need more 
venues in town and we need peo-
ple to actually realize that they 
have to go out in order to support 
that stuff and make it happen.”

In the meantime, Laith Al-

Saadi will keep playing his guitar 
late into the night and on into the 
next day.

VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily

Laith al-Saadi recorded his latest album, Real, with some of the best session players in the country.

EVENT PREVIEW
M-Agination festival 
presents student films

By GRACE HAMILTON

Daily Arts Writer

In this year’s M-agination 

Student Film Festival, an exper-
imental 
music 
video 
called 

“Legs” is just 
three minutes 
of 
dancing 

lower 
limbs, 

legs 
commu-

nicating 
with 

each 
other. 

Another 
one 

of the films is 
a sitcom pilot, 
following a pair 
of feisty twins 
as they wreak 
havoc through their boarding 
school by orchestrating a cheat-
ing business. Several of the films 
this year are musicals. 

The 
M-agination 
produc-

ers are a board of 16 senior and 
associate members, all students. 
While most of them are study-
ing film, other majors are rep-
resented, such as the sciences. 
They are responsible for putting 
out the call for scripts each year, 
deciding among the 30 to 40 
usual submissions and putting 
together teams to make each 
film. 

“It’s all about story and how 

do you tell a good story in an 
interesting way?” said Presi-
dent Anna Baumgarten, an LSA 
senior. “We like to avoid cliché; 
there are ways to put a spin on 
things that we’ve seen before. 
It’s really about human con-
nection, so good writing, even 
with tropes we’ve seen before 
like romance, can really make a 
difference. The writing comes 
through and you feel it.”

There are other things that 

help Baumgarten and the other 
producers filter through stories. 
In narrative films, the producers 
evaluate pacing, writing, the feel 

of the dialogue and how engag-
ing the story is.

“Another thing we look for is 

producability. Are there creative 
ways to get it done? If it’s shot on 
the moon, can we shoot that and 
how do we do it? Resources are 
important,” she said. 

After scripts are chosen, the 

writers typically become the 
directors. Then, the producers 
put out a crew call that anyone 
within the University is wel-
come to attend. There, writers/
directors have the opportunity 
to pitch their script. During this 
meeting, other students may sign 
up for crew roles on the films. 
And M-agination is open to all 
students and all ideas. 

“It’s the only film organization 

on campus where you can submit 
any idea, and we will consider 
it,” Baumgarten said. “I like how 
open the format is; every produc-
er is assigned one of those scripts 
and productions, and they run 
their own little microorganism. 
Every production is different. 
There’s no set limit.” 

The 
unofficial 
mentorship 

program within the organiza-
tion also helps encourage less 
experienced students interested 
in film to get involved. Experi-
enced people are put in depart-
ment positions and partnered 
with newer crew members. This 
gives something to people that 
film classes can’t. 

“When you’re in a production 

class, you’re with kids your same 
age and experience. Learning 
from (older students’) points of 
views of art has been so reward-
ing,” Baumgarten says. 

This 
kind 
of 
mentorship 

fosters a strong sense of col-
laboration among M-agination 
members. It’s a theme that both 
Baumgarten and Vice President 
Anthony Kalil, an LSA Senior 
mention more than once. 

“There are a lot of very tal-

ented and creative people associ-
ated with our group and the best 
works we see each year come 
from groups who fostered a safe 
space for people to express their 
creativity collaboratively,” said 
Kalil. 

The collaboration that helps 

the filmmakers and producers 
improve their individual skills is 
also the driving force of a film’s 
beauty. 

“Film is the ultimate collabor-

ative art form. You have writers, 
designers, composers, acting; I 
can’t think of a single creative art 
form that it doesn’t include. Even 
if it’s non-narrative, you’re still 
conveying feeling and emotion. 
It’s so cool,” she said, laughing. 

The 
obsessive 
excitement 

often seen in people with par-
ticular 
passions, 
like 
com-

ics, Harry Potter books or, in 
this case, film, shines through 
Anna’s enthusiasm and ambi-
tion. Likewise, Kalil expresses 
the same sentiment towards the 
power of film. 

“The cinematography, sound 

design, costume design, acting 
and everything else all try to 
convey the story in their own 
way. There are a lot of proj-
ects this year in the M-agina-
tion Films Festival that have 
achieved the sort of artistic 
synchrony and I’m excited for 
everyone to see them. It’s beau-
tiful,” Kalil said. 

M-agination leaves its door 

open to all ideas and all faces. 
As part of the University Activ-
ity Center, everyone is techni-
cally a part of the organization, 
Baumgarten 
noted. 
If 
your 

form of getting involved isn’t 
grabbing a camera or writing a 
script, simply sit back in the the-
ater and let yourself be blown 
away. Remind yourself what stu-
dents are capable of.

M-Agination 
Student Film 
Festival

April 18th

7:00 p.m.

Michigan Theater

Free

