So i get to be in South Africa for a big holiday!
Whee!
24 September: Heritage Day
Nelson Mandela coined the phrase "rainbow nation" to describe South Africa's diverse cultures, customs, traditions, histories, and languages. This day is a celebration of that diversity.
I'll let you all know how that goes. See if SA can show the world a peaceful rainbow nation, which we here in the USA have so far failed to do . . . .
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
A Playlist for peace. . .
PLAYLIST FOR PEACE
As a Quaker, I grew up in a culture of peace. My grandfather was a Conscientious Objector in WWII, and life long activist for peace and social justice, giving me an amazing example of the commitment needed to create lasting peace and the value of the peacemakers among us. There are many ways for each of us to bring peace into our own lives and into our communities. Many of the musicians on Calabash Music use their music to bring peace into our world, and I've put together a small selection of these artists here. Some of them are from war zones, one was a child soldier, some are calling for peace based on religious reasons, some for personal reasons. All are unified in one goal – peace. As we mark the 5th anniversary of 9-11 and as we face continuing violence in conflicts around the world, let this music sustain you in your personal quest for peace.
Peace Be with You – In 2005 Marcel Khalife was awarded the UNESCO's Artist for Peace award. In his many albums, Marcel is constantly addressing the issue of peacemaking, and uses his music to bridge divides, show similiarities and work for peace.
Give Peace a Chance w/Winston Mankumku Ngozi – All of South Africa is filled with hope for a peaceful future, and with the groundwork laid by Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and many many others, South Africa’s future looks bright. Here is a jazzy musical taste of peace from SA.
"A Song for Peace," This song is a direct call for peace, for ending wars, for hope... Not originally written by Shlomo Bar, but newly arranged by him in the mid-90s. This was the last song sung at the Peace Rally in which Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. The words to the song were on a piece of paper in his shirt pocket, and after the shooting it was shows on TV with the bullet hole through it and Rabin’s spilled blood. It became the anthem of the Israeli peace movement for many years.
Ya Salam – A song of peace from a former child soldier in the Sudan. When I heard Emmanuel Jal’s story at a conference in South Africa live from his lips, I was crying along with everyone else in the audience. You know you are in the presence of a peacemaker when you hear Emmanuel speak.
Zaman el Salaam/Time for Peace – A Live Recording from a Peace Concert in Oslo, Norway in 1994. Yair Dalal is another artist like Marcel Khalife who is tirelesslly making peace with his music.
Ya Oud – A haunting beautiful song by Elizabeth Ayoub sung in homage to an instrument spanning tribal/racial/religious divides. This young lebanese singer is working with Marcel Khalife’s son Rami to rebuild Lebanon through music.
Shalom Aleykhem (Peace Be With You) - The ultimate of what brass bands can give to sound and soul: Thousands of years after the fall of the tower of Babel; Jews, Moors and Gypsies finally reunite. Masters of brass from New York, Cairo and the Balkans meet to celebrate the rediscovered traits of their common past in mystic knowledge - and lung power.
Gazelle, my heart is parched - 'Gazelle' is a seamless and engaging collaboration by Kol Oud Tof that combines Hebrew liturgical poetry, Ladino and Arabic classical modes in a beautiful blend.
Salaam 'Alaykoum (Peace Be With You) – A plea for peace from another lebanese artist, Emad Sayyah. Music for peace that you can bellydance to!
Salam – A plaintive call for peace by Gigi Shibabaw from East Africa.
Maa el Salama [Go in Peace] – More music for peace that you can bellydance to! This time by Hossam Ramzy. What could be better?
Salam Malakum – A plea for peace from a Pan-West African band, Kabudu.
Dunya Salam - Baaba Maal – A cross cultural cry for peace by many musicians, with Baaba Maal singing georgeous suras from the Koran on top of everything.
I Will Fight No More – From the north american native tradition, here are words that we can only hope politicians and soldiers will make their mantra in the future. From Peter Kater's eloquent albums.
Peace Be With You – Another cry for peace from South Africa, this time from Sipho Gumede, another of the young guard.
Don't Fight – A cry for peace from Nigeria. Tony Allen was featured as our free single in early September, check our blog archives for more on his work.
Ya Adili Bilah – Another of the younger generation of artists, Eliyahu Sills, who plays with Shlomo Bar, is creating peace through his music and teaching of children. This song is a love song to God, an old arabic song sung in an Andulusian dialect of arabic. May our love for our gods shine through in the peace of our lives.
Ya Salam - A cry for peace from Senegal, West Africa and Ouza.
The Serpent - Two voices of harmoniously cry for peace and an end to the violence in Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. The distinct harmonies of this song are a call for an end to endless violence. This duet between Maurice Chedid and Dorit arranged by Richard Khuzami is a plea for sanity in an insane part of the world. If we all practiced the basic tenants of our related religions, then all the manipulations of demigods on all sides would have no success: Respect and tolerance: with it we can move mountains, without it we only destroy...
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Mili Bermejo - Live Show
On Friday July 14th, I had a double pleasure. First of all, I got to see my girlfriend dance a solo piece that she had created. Which was awesome. Such great energy, humor, and creativity. She danced to a piece of music I had hipped her to, which was also cool. A piece called "Pink Freud" by The Pinker Tones.
Second, I had my love of live music confirmed. Mili Bermejo did a live set. Mili is a great artist from Mexico/Argentina, and I've heard her music before, as she is on Calabash and she is the aunt of Jimena, our friend. However, there is something about live performance that is just amazing. Mili's voice was captivating, and her strength and confidence on the guitar grew through the short 4-5 song set she sang.
The occasion of all of this joy was a benefit fundraiser for two great local choreographers - Jimena Bermejo and Julie Pike-Edmonds. They'll be performing at CMAC this fall. So stay tuned for details . . .
Second, I had my love of live music confirmed. Mili Bermejo did a live set. Mili is a great artist from Mexico/Argentina, and I've heard her music before, as she is on Calabash and she is the aunt of Jimena, our friend. However, there is something about live performance that is just amazing. Mili's voice was captivating, and her strength and confidence on the guitar grew through the short 4-5 song set she sang.
The occasion of all of this joy was a benefit fundraiser for two great local choreographers - Jimena Bermejo and Julie Pike-Edmonds. They'll be performing at CMAC this fall. So stay tuned for details . . .
Friday, May 19, 2006
Denied
So just finished reading my second sister's blog. She's gotten me all fired up. Especially that quote across the top of the page. Good one Seems.
This on top of the latest news out of our borders. First M.I.A. and now K'naan.
I couldn't understand why M.I.A. was denied a visa to come here and work. Some bs about her father's involvement with the Tamil tigers, etc etc. Google her or read this if you want the full scoop. She was headed here to do a new album produced by Timbaland. Come on you folks over at INS/Homeland Security. Get your shit together. It's not like you didn't know she was coming. And it's not like she has never been to the US before.
And now K'naan! He was supposed to play a show in NYC on Wednesday, but got turned back at the border. WTF! I met K'naan and his manager Sol at the Global Hip Hop Summit in Jozi last fall. This was an event sponsored by the UN, not your typical terrorist organization. K'naan is a Canadian as well, for gods sake. So he gets turned around at the border on Wednesday. Again, not like folks didn't know he was coming . . . . and again, he just finished a rippin tour with Mos Def, Talib Kweli and many others that went all over the US. Sponsored by SonyPSP for gods sake. So perhaps you can only get in as an artist if a huge corporation wants you to hype their latest goods.
Word to the wise artist - forget a record label, sign up with Exxon to sing their latest theme song.
The atmosphere for artists get more and more poisoned. Although never easy to get in if you are African, poor, melanin-rich, political, muslim, or some ungodly combination of the above, it is getting worse. A couple years ago, the band Mamar Kassey from Niger got 2 (!) of it's 12 piece band through. And those 2 spent upwards of 10 hours in questioning inside the airport. As our (Americans) exposure to various places gets more and more limited, we lose our basic sense that there is more out there than us. And we've never been good with that one anyways. Closing the borders to artists doesn't really seem to encourage dialogue, peace and a reduction in terrorism. In fact, I believe that it is just one more step that will increase the resentment against the USA worldwide.
Word to Bush - Leave the artists alone and go get Osama. Or maybe Osama's just keeping a cave warm for you over in Afghanistan/Pakistan so you have someplace to go after you're impeached.
This on top of the latest news out of our borders. First M.I.A. and now K'naan.
I couldn't understand why M.I.A. was denied a visa to come here and work. Some bs about her father's involvement with the Tamil tigers, etc etc. Google her or read this if you want the full scoop. She was headed here to do a new album produced by Timbaland. Come on you folks over at INS/Homeland Security. Get your shit together. It's not like you didn't know she was coming. And it's not like she has never been to the US before.
And now K'naan! He was supposed to play a show in NYC on Wednesday, but got turned back at the border. WTF! I met K'naan and his manager Sol at the Global Hip Hop Summit in Jozi last fall. This was an event sponsored by the UN, not your typical terrorist organization. K'naan is a Canadian as well, for gods sake. So he gets turned around at the border on Wednesday. Again, not like folks didn't know he was coming . . . . and again, he just finished a rippin tour with Mos Def, Talib Kweli and many others that went all over the US. Sponsored by SonyPSP for gods sake. So perhaps you can only get in as an artist if a huge corporation wants you to hype their latest goods.
Word to the wise artist - forget a record label, sign up with Exxon to sing their latest theme song.
The atmosphere for artists get more and more poisoned. Although never easy to get in if you are African, poor, melanin-rich, political, muslim, or some ungodly combination of the above, it is getting worse. A couple years ago, the band Mamar Kassey from Niger got 2 (!) of it's 12 piece band through. And those 2 spent upwards of 10 hours in questioning inside the airport. As our (Americans) exposure to various places gets more and more limited, we lose our basic sense that there is more out there than us. And we've never been good with that one anyways. Closing the borders to artists doesn't really seem to encourage dialogue, peace and a reduction in terrorism. In fact, I believe that it is just one more step that will increase the resentment against the USA worldwide.
Word to Bush - Leave the artists alone and go get Osama. Or maybe Osama's just keeping a cave warm for you over in Afghanistan/Pakistan so you have someplace to go after you're impeached.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Siren Song of Mali - My Thoughts
So a couple weeks ago, the NYTimes published an article on Mali. Which was great. Except the author missed a few things and got a few other things wrong. I've held off on putting this here so that the Times would have a chance to publish some corrections or publish this as a letter to the editor. But they haven't. (Well, they did this but it's not really anything). So you get to read it here. I'm also creating a playlist to go along with Jon Pareles' accompanying article. Check it out on Calabash.
Anyway, here's my letter:
Dear Editor,
I am writing in regards to the article in the Travel Section from April 2, 2006. (http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/travel/02mali.html?pagewanted=all)
Overall, this was an amazing article, and was a great read. I am both an avid Mali-phile who has spent 6 months living in Mali studying the dance and music, and someone who is working professionally to help Malian musicians reach a wider audience as the VP of Artist/Label Relations for Calabash Music (cited by Jon Pareles in his partner piece). As part of that work, I am working with Paul Chandler (Mr. Hammer's guide in Mali) and other music producers in Mali to directly work with, and compensate artists.
However, I was filled with mixed feelings reading this piece, as there were a few significant factual errors in this piece. I am quite happy that Mali is getting positive publicity, and is being recognized for the quality and quantity of music and culture. I, of course, do want this culture and music to be represented accurately.
The first mistake I caught is in the first paragraph: "A jembe fola ("he who talks with the drum") pounded on a bongo fashioned from sheets of horsehide stretched over a gasoline can."
In fact, a djembe (or jembe) is a specific type of drum carved from wood that is somewhat hourglass shaped. It is covered by a goat-hide (and in very very rare cases, cow-hide). It is neither a bongo, nor covered with horse-hide, nor is it made with a gasoline can. And while "fo" can mean "talk" it also means "to play", so a more accurate translation of djembefola would be simply "djembe player". This term is generally reserved for a good player, as opposed to just any person who picks up a drum. Also, this type of writing ("pounded on a bongo") seems like that which would come from someone wholly ignorant of Africa and its music, rather than someone based in South Africa, and presumably familiar with basic instruments.
Second, later on, the article reads "The city has become a cultural hothouse, in which singers and instrumentalists from Mali's myriad tribes — the Tuaregs of the Sahara, the Sorhai of Timbuktu, the Malinkes from the border region south of Bamako, the Dogon cliff dwellers, the Wassalous near the Ivory Coast, the Peuls of central Mali — mix and fertilize one another's art."
Wassalou (or Wassulu or Wassoulou) is a region, it is NOT the name of a group of people. Wassoulou stretches across areas of Mali, Guinea and Ivory Coast and is home to Bambara, Peul (Fulani), Malinkes, and other groups of people. Wassoulou is famous as it is the home region of such famous artists as Oumou Sangare, Ramata Diakite, Coumba Sidibe, etc. The style of music from Wassoulou started it's rise to prominence in the 1970's, and changed the music scene in Mali forever. It brought out themes of love, women's empowerment and other previously unheard musical subjects. At Calabash Music, we've devoted a whole section of our site to the music from this region (http://music.calabashmusic.com/world/Wassoulou).
Additionally, the Peul (also known as the Fulfulde, Pulaar, Fulani, Peul, Fula) people are nomadic herders who have settled all across West Africa and are not restricted to central Mali, as the article implies.
Thirdly, later on, the article reads "Four percussionists stood in the front row, beating on jembes and dununbas, slim tapered drums that fit snugly in the armpit." Dununbas are NOT slim tapered drums that fit beneath ones arms. I believe that the author is referring to drums known in Mali as "Tama" or "Tamani", which are known in the west as "talking drums." Dununbas are large double headed drums played with sticks in ensemble with djembes. Tama are typically reserved for griot music, though their role is expanding as fusions grow as with all music in Mali now, as Mr. Hammer correctly points out.
And finally, the article misses Mali's rich cultural boat in several significant ways. I appreciate the difficulty of putting a whole culture into one article, however, I expect more from the New York Times and it's fact-checkers. For example, the article reads "The griot still ranks low on the social hierarchy, however: Salif Keita, a descendant of a royal Malinke family, earned his clan's scorn when he chose the career of the griot."
Griots occupy a very interesting role in Malinke/Bamana culture. Griots are both respected and scorned. They are found at all levels of Bamana culture, from the kings bedroom and boardroom to the common streets. This duality is rooted in their historical place in society, and is the subject of many books, academic articles, and discussions, all widely available to the casual reader.
Salif Keita faced scorn from his family not because he chose the career of a griot (since one cannot choose another role in a casted society), but because he became an artist, traditionally the realm of many different castes (including griot), but definitely NOT the realm of a noble. Many other artists coming of age in the 1970s faced this same scorn from their families for becoming dancers, drummers, or musicians.
Finally, the article reads "Mali musical tradition goes back to the height of the Songhai Empire, in the early 16th century, when a caste of itinerant entertainers — oral historians called griots — emerged in the villages along the Niger River, the third longest waterway in Africa."
Again, this is slightly problematic historically. The consensus is rather that griots "emerged" in the Empire of Mali in the 12th and 13th centuries, and a quick review of the historical literature (or even the net) will show that griots are almost always associated with this earlier Empire and the first ruler Sunjiata Keita (many spellings exist also for Sundjata's first name). The Empire of Mali was founded and ruled by the Bamana people, from whom the Songhai seized power and formed this new powerful empire in the 16th century, by which time, the tradition and caste of griot was well established.
I hope that some of these corrections can be passed on to the public and/or to the printed record of the NY Times, and I also hope that the Times continues to cover West Africa and its culture in such depth and color. We are all richer for it, and hopefully we can help make Mali a bit less poor as well.
I am writing in regards to the article in the Travel Section from April 2, 2006. (http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/travel/02mali.html?pagewanted=all)
Overall, this was an amazing article, and was a great read. I am both an avid Mali-phile who has spent 6 months living in Mali studying the dance and music, and someone who is working professionally to help Malian musicians reach a wider audience as the VP of Artist/Label Relations for Calabash Music (cited by Jon Pareles in his partner piece). As part of that work, I am working with Paul Chandler (Mr. Hammer's guide in Mali) and other music producers in Mali to directly work with, and compensate artists.
However, I was filled with mixed feelings reading this piece, as there were a few significant factual errors in this piece. I am quite happy that Mali is getting positive publicity, and is being recognized for the quality and quantity of music and culture. I, of course, do want this culture and music to be represented accurately.
The first mistake I caught is in the first paragraph: "A jembe fola ("he who talks with the drum") pounded on a bongo fashioned from sheets of horsehide stretched over a gasoline can."
In fact, a djembe (or jembe) is a specific type of drum carved from wood that is somewhat hourglass shaped. It is covered by a goat-hide (and in very very rare cases, cow-hide). It is neither a bongo, nor covered with horse-hide, nor is it made with a gasoline can. And while "fo" can mean "talk" it also means "to play", so a more accurate translation of djembefola would be simply "djembe player". This term is generally reserved for a good player, as opposed to just any person who picks up a drum. Also, this type of writing ("pounded on a bongo") seems like that which would come from someone wholly ignorant of Africa and its music, rather than someone based in South Africa, and presumably familiar with basic instruments.
Second, later on, the article reads "The city has become a cultural hothouse, in which singers and instrumentalists from Mali's myriad tribes — the Tuaregs of the Sahara, the Sorhai of Timbuktu, the Malinkes from the border region south of Bamako, the Dogon cliff dwellers, the Wassalous near the Ivory Coast, the Peuls of central Mali — mix and fertilize one another's art."
Wassalou (or Wassulu or Wassoulou) is a region, it is NOT the name of a group of people. Wassoulou stretches across areas of Mali, Guinea and Ivory Coast and is home to Bambara, Peul (Fulani), Malinkes, and other groups of people. Wassoulou is famous as it is the home region of such famous artists as Oumou Sangare, Ramata Diakite, Coumba Sidibe, etc. The style of music from Wassoulou started it's rise to prominence in the 1970's, and changed the music scene in Mali forever. It brought out themes of love, women's empowerment and other previously unheard musical subjects. At Calabash Music, we've devoted a whole section of our site to the music from this region (http://music.calabashmusic.com/world/Wassoulou).
Additionally, the Peul (also known as the Fulfulde, Pulaar, Fulani, Peul, Fula) people are nomadic herders who have settled all across West Africa and are not restricted to central Mali, as the article implies.
Thirdly, later on, the article reads "Four percussionists stood in the front row, beating on jembes and dununbas, slim tapered drums that fit snugly in the armpit." Dununbas are NOT slim tapered drums that fit beneath ones arms. I believe that the author is referring to drums known in Mali as "Tama" or "Tamani", which are known in the west as "talking drums." Dununbas are large double headed drums played with sticks in ensemble with djembes. Tama are typically reserved for griot music, though their role is expanding as fusions grow as with all music in Mali now, as Mr. Hammer correctly points out.
And finally, the article misses Mali's rich cultural boat in several significant ways. I appreciate the difficulty of putting a whole culture into one article, however, I expect more from the New York Times and it's fact-checkers. For example, the article reads "The griot still ranks low on the social hierarchy, however: Salif Keita, a descendant of a royal Malinke family, earned his clan's scorn when he chose the career of the griot."
Griots occupy a very interesting role in Malinke/Bamana culture. Griots are both respected and scorned. They are found at all levels of Bamana culture, from the kings bedroom and boardroom to the common streets. This duality is rooted in their historical place in society, and is the subject of many books, academic articles, and discussions, all widely available to the casual reader.
Salif Keita faced scorn from his family not because he chose the career of a griot (since one cannot choose another role in a casted society), but because he became an artist, traditionally the realm of many different castes (including griot), but definitely NOT the realm of a noble. Many other artists coming of age in the 1970s faced this same scorn from their families for becoming dancers, drummers, or musicians.
Finally, the article reads "Mali musical tradition goes back to the height of the Songhai Empire, in the early 16th century, when a caste of itinerant entertainers — oral historians called griots — emerged in the villages along the Niger River, the third longest waterway in Africa."
Again, this is slightly problematic historically. The consensus is rather that griots "emerged" in the Empire of Mali in the 12th and 13th centuries, and a quick review of the historical literature (or even the net) will show that griots are almost always associated with this earlier Empire and the first ruler Sunjiata Keita (many spellings exist also for Sundjata's first name). The Empire of Mali was founded and ruled by the Bamana people, from whom the Songhai seized power and formed this new powerful empire in the 16th century, by which time, the tradition and caste of griot was well established.
I hope that some of these corrections can be passed on to the public and/or to the printed record of the NY Times, and I also hope that the Times continues to cover West Africa and its culture in such depth and color. We are all richer for it, and hopefully we can help make Mali a bit less poor as well.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Ali Farka Toure
Today news comes from Mali that Ali Farka Toure has passed from this world to the next. Our ancestors are now blessed with the musicial genius of this man whom some call "The lion of the desert" or "The lion of Niafounke".
We had heard several months ago from our friends at IMN that Ali Farka was ailing, and had been praying for him. So today's news, while not unexpected brings a heavy heart to us all.
Mr. Toure was the first African artist to receive two Grammy Awards, the most recent for his collaboration with Toumani Diabate on an album called "In The Heart of the Moon."
While some folks (in the US and Europe) might say that Ali Farka found new ways to combine the Blues with Malian Traditional Music, Ali Farka was always adamant to say that he was merely playing his musical heritage, and that the music he was playing (Blues) came from Mali initially.
We are a richer world for Ali Farka's presence here, and we celebrate his legacy as we mourn his passing.
See here for IMN's biography of Ali Farka Toure.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Habib Koite in Providence
So then after Neba left, we welcomed another Malian great to New England. Habib Koite showed up for a week of appearances at high schools in Providence and finished up the week with a benefit show for GAIA (an organization working on an AIDS vaccine).Again, I was lucky enough to show the guys around and help out a bit. But I got to ENJOY this show! without working! awesome. but madou (the tama player) made me work a little bit, he brought me up on stage and made me dance. fun fun stuff.
always fun to see people you meet on your travels back in your area. you get to return the favors they gave to you on their turf.
neba solo in boston
I can't believe that I haven't blogged in so long. (Similar opening sentences are often written in my diary.) Anyway, after returning from Jozi, my life has been super hectic. Good and bad as well. It all started well on the return, with an immediate jump into helping out Neba Solo, who was brought to Harvard U to do an artist residency and perform a free (!) show.I had a great time hanging out with the guys, showing them around town, and then got roped into being their stage manager. I can't seem to get thru a show without doing some work. Anyway, this is a pic from backstage thru the beautiful wood moldings. It was a fun show, and a fun week. You can see a video from the show on Calabash.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
videos. watch out
Watch out cause technology is on the rise. I'm sure this will come to blogger soon as well, but for now, check out my brand new Typepad blog right here. We've got a Typepad account for our various Calabash Music blogs, and we've got a pro account since we're such blogging fiends. Anyway, that coupled with some fun new tools that VideoEgg and Typepad have brought us (for free and sans-adverts for the moment), mean that you all get to see my video.
And it means I get to show you where I've been in more ways than one. First there were words. Then pictures. Now video.
As I said - Watch out.
My first video post is from the Friday night concert at the UN Habitat sponsored Global Hip Hop Summit.
Check it out.
yeah!!!
Thursday, November 03, 2005
arriving home
so it only took somewhere around 72 hours after i physically arrived in boston for the rest of me to arrive. sometime yesterday morning i realized that i was back. "they" say that your soul takes a while to arrive cause it can't travel as fast as a plane, and i guess it is true. or maybe it's just jet-lag. take your pick as to an explanation. we've started to get some of the music i gathered up on calabash, so you can check out what i've seen with the 60 second samples. for example, you can check out bhubesii's release. bhubesii is one of the guys from black sunday, and this is that collective's first release in a bit. you can also check out a black sunday alum, pitch black afro and his album "styling gel." other artists that i met include mapaputsi, one of the kwaito originators and vivid afrika, a wicked new jazz project. i met mapaputsi at the EMI christmas release party, when there were also performances by M'du, Brown Dash, HHP (Hip Hop Pantsula), Mandoza and others. Some of these guys will be on our site soon, others may take a little while (but we'll get them!).
vivid afrika is this cool project from the label MELT. we've had MELT on calabash for quite some time, and they have lots of south african jazz. i never really got this music. i just thought it was jazz. but at this record release party, listening to what was going on, i really got it. i realized that south african jazz was happening, that it was new and different and it's own unique style. the vivid afrika project is a cool one, these guys coming together to perform as one group, pushing the boundaries of african jazz. i definently recommend checking it out.
i'll be putting up video clips and pictures here and on my blog that i'm simultaneously publishing to as well. you can check out that blog here.
vivid afrika is this cool project from the label MELT. we've had MELT on calabash for quite some time, and they have lots of south african jazz. i never really got this music. i just thought it was jazz. but at this record release party, listening to what was going on, i really got it. i realized that south african jazz was happening, that it was new and different and it's own unique style. the vivid afrika project is a cool one, these guys coming together to perform as one group, pushing the boundaries of african jazz. i definently recommend checking it out.
i'll be putting up video clips and pictures here and on my blog that i'm simultaneously publishing to as well. you can check out that blog here.
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