Dr. Ayman Fanous works out of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix, where he is a professor and chair of the psychiatry department. Fanous’ field is psychiatric genomics research, specifically genetic risk factors for psychiatric illness. In the ample spare time afforded by his career choice, Fanous has earned a reputation as a premier guitarist and bouzouki performer in contemporary music circles.
Brooklyn Stories, a powerful five-disc collection of performances in duo, trio and quartet settings, places Fanous in exactly the right company — Thomas Ulrich, James Ilgenfritz and the late Susan Alcorn among them.
While we’re dropping heavyweight names, Elliot Sharp writes about his first meeting with Fanous in the box set’s liner notes.
“It’s 1993 or so and I’m at the old Knitting Factory on Houston St.,” Sharp writes. “A young gentleman hands me a cassette, tells me he’s a guitarist. The next day I listen and am enthralled with the inventiveness of his pitch-based improvising, wide open but with simmering intensity, not a blow-out … clear evidence of deep listening, a different flavour of free-jazz.”
“Not long after, Ayman comes to my studio and we play. The cassette was not a fluke. The man has technique to spare but he’s not an all-flash no-substance player. The complexity and depth that I heard on the cassette was present in abundance when we improvised together. Our sonic conversation touched upon many abstract points in the universe.”
In contrast to his medical training, Fanous has no formal background in music. He describes himself as “basically an acoustic player,” applying flamenco and classical techniques. What’s more evident in these recordings is his love of the great avant-gardists like Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton and Derek Bailey.
It’s tempting to draw a connection between the freneticism of these performances and Fanous’ work in psychiatry. That would be unfairly reductive. Spend time with this collection — what you’ll find is a group of gifted people connecting in genuinely thrilling ways. Great minds, thinking alike and getting it all on tape.
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The Moderns 