Royal Bayyan

“MFM Speaks Out” EP 25: Kool & the Gang’s Royal Bayyan on Record Production and a Lifetime in the Music Business

“Stay true to yourself, and stay true to the game. If you give music your all, and be honest with yourself, you will be rewarded.”

In this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Dawoud Kringle interviews  Royal Bayyan. Royal is a Musician, Songwriter, Producer, Music Supervisor, Personal Manager, Executive Brand Consultant. He played with and was a founding member of Kool & the Gang.

The topics of the interview include Royal’s beginnings as an early member of Kool and the Gang, the problems and pitfalls of the music business, the art of record production, Bringing live hip hop concerts to Africa, the evolution of music production, surviving in the music business, an alternative perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the music business, and the spiritual aspects of life as a professional musician and as a Muslim.

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MFM Presents: “Music Is Essential” ZOOM Webinar #4 w. MFM Members Richard Miller and Stephen Johnson Speaking of the Rhythmic and Harmonic History of Brazilian Music from Choro to Bossa Nova

Date: Friday, March 26, 2021
Time: 7pm to 8pm EST
Venue:  ZOOM
Ticket: free

Please RVSP to Richard Miller: balancedguitar@gmail.com

About the Webinar

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Roger Blanc

“MFM Speaks Out” EP 24: Roger Blanc on Working as a Musician During a Pandemic

“We’re operating under a significant cloud… it is important to not only take care of yourself but support your fellow musicians in any way that you can.” – Roger Blanc

In this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Adam Reifsteck interviews composer, guitarist, and MFM Board member Roger Blanc about navigating today’s music industry landscape, adapting and finding ways to work as a musician during the coronavirus pandemic, the importance of music rights advocacy, and his involvement with MFM.

The following music is featured in this episode:

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MFM and Manhattan Producers Alliance Present “The Art of Hearing what you See – Composing Music for Film, Television, Theatre, and Dance” (ZOOM Webinar #3) with composers Eleni Lomvardou and Christopher North

Date: Sunday, March 7
Time: 5pm to 6pm EST
Venue: ZOOM
Ticket: free

Joint event by MFM and Manhattan Producers Alliance

Please RVSP here.

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Music & Video Review: Spaghetti Eastern Music Returns to Orbit with New Maxi-single “Blues for A Lost Cosmonaut”

Music & Video Review by Dawoud Kringle

Sal Cataldi's Spaghetti Eastern MusicSpaghetti Eastern Music, the ongoing project led by guitarist/ composer / improviser / producer / polymath / MFM member Sal Cataldi has done it again. This single, titled Blues for a Lost Cosmonaut, is an exploration of emotions evoked by a look back into the infancy of manned space flight.

Cataldi’s guitars glide and dance in and around the landscape he creates with his synthesizers. The piece has a dreamy rubato feel, combined with the haunted F minor tonality, well-balanced combination of timbres, melodic counterpoints, and motif invention. It is as beautiful as a well-tended garden, and as seductive as a courtesan in an opium den.

The video for Blues for a Lost Cosmonaut compliments the music beautifully. It shifts back and forth between a plethora of images from the late 50s – early 60s Soviet space program, fractal art, and clips from what is obviously an old Soviet era science fiction movie (nothing ages faster than science fiction!).

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