Monthly Archives: October 2009

MEHREGAN – The Festival of Autumn Traditional and Folk Persian Dance and Music. Moderator is Dr. Lloyd Miller!!!

MEHREGAN flier

MEHREGAN flier

Date: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Time: 8:00pm – 11:00pm
Location: Miller Theater of Columbia University
Street: 2960 Broadway – Columbia University

Description of the event:
The Iranian American Society of New York is presenting two exclusive performances moderated by Dr. Lloyd Miller:

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Kato-bushi – the traditional Japanese Rap music.

KATOH-BUSHI Concert programm front cover by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

KATOH-BUSHI Concert programm front cover by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Kato-bushi is a style of Japanese traditional narrative music, called Joruri, accompanied by the shamisen, which is three-stringed banjo-like lute. It was created in 1717 by Masumi Kato (1684-1725) of Tokyo, which was called Edo at that time. He first studied Handaya-bushi, an earlier style of Joruri, under its originator Handaya Edo (who died around 1743).

Because of its stylish, sophisticated and delicate melodies of pure Edo origin, Kato-bushi was favored by intellectuals, the wealthy, as well as some government officials and their samurais of the Edo period. Competing with other Joruri styles of that time, Kato-bushi flourished in Edo and influenced other music styles of that time.

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