Kuwaiti Samri is Gulf folk music with a gentle 2/4 sway and a soft frame-drum pulse. In many gatherings you hear interlocking handclaps and chant-like refrains that rise and settle with a warm communal feel. This piece offers a modern instrumental take that features violin as a surrogate for the genre’s lead vocals. The usual call and response is set aside so the core sway remains, carried by a singing melodic line while a quiet frame drum keeps time. The result is intimate and cyclical, with phrases that lean into the beat, float above it, and return to the theme for a calm, hypnotic flow. It gives first-time listeners a clear window into Samri’s rhythmic heart without the crowd energy that typically surrounds it.

[CREATIVE NOTE]
This arrangement adopts the violin as the principal melodic voice throughout, drawing on the Kuwaiti ṣawt tradition to stand in for Samri’s vocal line. Violin is not standard in classic Samri settings. Its use here is an intentional compositional choice that preserves the style’s gentle sway and measured cadence while presenting the melody instrumentally for clarity and learning.

Folklore Interlude - Samri Style Instrumental

The Chance of Loving Me

Cast album for the original Lovewell show "Dream Club: A Musical Way To Die", written in collaboration with Eslövs Folkhögskola, Sweden, in 2016/2017.

Hasta Siempre, Comandante

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