Kuwait Makes Grammy History: Ghazi Al-Mulaifi and Amin Abdal’s Nomination
Back during the 64th Grammy Awards, which took place in 2022, the album Virtual Birdland by Arturo O’Farrill was nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album.
Fast forward to today, two Kuwaiti musicians, Ghazi Al-Mulaifi and Amin Abdal, have just discovered that they were also nominated for the award.
Yes, the nominations were released back in 2022, but what’s interesting is that these two artists only received their nominations a couple of days ago. Despite the timing hiccup, this makes them the first Kuwaitis to be nominated for a Grammy!
Who Are The Two Kuwaitis?
Each of the two musicians played a key part in the Virtual Birdland album. Al-Mulaifi was the composer, while Abdal was the band’s recording engineer. Yet, the two also had an impressive musical career before the Grammy-nominated project.
Al-Mulaifi: The Music Innovator
Beyond this project, Al-Mulaifi is known as quite an innovative artist. In 2016, after studying applied ethnomusicology (the study of music in its social and cultural contexts) at New York University, he created a band called Boom.Diwan.
This band is unlike any other because it includes him and traditional Kuwaiti pearl-diving musicians who merge Kuwaiti bahri (sea) rhythms with global jazz traditions to create a new genre of Kuwaiti music.
Abdal: The Eclectic DJ
On the other side of the coin is Abdal, a DJ and music creator who manages Boom.Diwan, curates Miza Abu Dhabi Radio, and founded Audio Artist Lab, an archival page showcasing all his projects.
Seeing how the Arab world of musicians is seeping through to the West and dominating award platforms and competitions, we have a feeling they will grow even further.
