Remembering Amjed "AJ" Abdallah - 1968 - 2005
Sadly, Jody Raffoul, and everyone who works with him, lost a great friend and contemporary early in January. Amjed Abdallah, 36, known to most Jody fans as simply "AJ", was the percussionist for the "Like A Star" band. He was many things to many other people though; a producer, an entrepreneur, a survivor, a success story, an inspiration, a friend, a son and a loving father to his 13 year old son Ian. All who knew AJ will miss everything about him. Jody's comments on the tragedy are as follows: "The Jody Raffoul camp is devastated at the loss of bandmate Amjed Abdallah, known to many as just 'AJ', the ace percussionist in the 'Like A Star' band. He was admired and well recieved by the entire Detroit musical community. He can not be replaced. AJ was one unique soul who carried an electric vibe about him, in everything he did. I even admired the way the man walked around a room. He was an amazing percussionist who constantly impressed me with what he was capable of, his understanding of beats and rhythms. He was also one of the funniest people I've ever talked to. Always made me laugh, he was a happy guy.
When we were rehearsing, AJ kept everyone laughing. The backgrounds between everyone working on the music was very diverse, with people like Marlon Young, the producer of the album, and our drummer, Jeff Fowlkes, having deep southern American heritage and AJ and myself having middle eastern heritage. We heckled each other about it all and AJ was always able to laugh at everything. He saw the joy, the positive, in everything, in life. AJ is survived by his 13 year old son Ian, his family in Jordan - including his parents who he wasn't able to see in many years. AJ was a beautiful spirit and he will continue to inspire me and a lot of other people." AJ may be gone, but the pulsating rhythm, energy and spirit will never die.