Monthly Archives: February 2011

Yemen Blues (Yemen/Israel) – Moments of Deep Desert Soul!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Photo by Laurent Burst

YEMEN BLUES was founded by Ravid Kahalani, a rising star in Israel who grew up to a traditional Yemenite family, learned the language and the traditional chants of his origin. Ravid joined forces with Omer Avital, a well known bass player and composer, and together they gathered YEMEN BLUES, a group of musicians from New York, Israel and Uruguay which fuses traditional Yemenite music with blues, jazz, funk and West African rhythms and melodies. 

About Ravid Kahalani

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Japanese Snow Monkeys Bathing In An “Onsen”!


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Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Wintertime…. in New York, and I’m missing my Japanese snow monkeys!!! Did you know that the snow monkeys are the most northerly non-human primate in the world?  When temperatures drop to below freezing and snow covers their habitat, they spend the winter warming up in the volcanic hot springs called onsen in Japanese. If you have a day to spare on your trip to Tokyo, consider visiting the Jigokudani Monkey Park (地獄谷野猿公苑 Jigokudani Yaen Kōen). The park is located in Yamanouchi (a Northern Nagano Prefecture).

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Intakes #1 – Jazz here and there/was, is and will be?

Text by Steve Dalachinsky

“You have to learn all those notes and scales…that’s a beautiful foundation but then you have to spend a lifetime finding out what to leave out” Percy Heath

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