(This is an informative commentary written by one of my favorite jazz writers Nat Hentoff who’s been very supportive of the J4JA campaign for a while. I would like to share it with you. If you “like” it please distribute it in your Facebook page. – Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, DooBeeDoo editor)
Text by Nat Hentoff published by Jazzed (the Jazz Educator’s magazine)
Date: May 9, 2013
Venue: Tea Lounge (NY)
Review by Dawoud Kringle
When I walked in to the Tea Lounge for Brandon Terzic’s Trio performance for the Brooklyn Raga Massive (I was a little late. Sorry guys), the boys were playing for dear life, simultaneously caressing lovely poetics from the maqam and pummeling it into submission. Rufus Cappadocia’s solo was amazing; a Hendrixian powerhouse. Matt Kilmer’s percussion solo was as solid and innovative as ever. Terzic’s oud playing took the maqam and dipped it in a pool of jazz inspired deviations which always landed in its feet.
Lyrics: Ai Weiwei
Music: Zuoxiao Zuzhou.
Video: Christopher Doyle
Release date: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 (in YouTube)
Photo courtesy of Ai Weiwei’s website
About Ai Weiwei
Author: Abolqasem Ferdowsi
Title: Shahnameh – The Epic of the Persian King
Format: hardcover with slipcase
Item#: ISBN 978-1-59372-051-3
Price: Regular Edition: $75.00 / Collector’s Edition: $550.00
Publisher: The Quantuck Lane Press
Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings is a new illustrated edition of the classic work written over one thousand years ago byi Abolqasem Ferdowsi, one of Persia’s greatest poets. This new prose translation of the national epic is illuminated with over 500 pages of illustrations.
Date: April 17, 2013
Venue: ZirZamin (NY)
Review by Matt Cole
I saw The Red Microphone for the first time at their CD release show at ZirZamin for The Red Microphone Speaks!, and was thus happy to see that they were a quartet consisting of four members of the Dissident Arts Orchestra, who had created a fine improvised soundtrack to Eisenstein’s classic Battleship Potemkin a few months back. Specifically, The Red Microphone consists of John Pietaro on vibraphone and percussion; Ras Moshe on tenor and soprano sax, flute, and spoken words; Rocco John Iacovone on alto and soprano sax, and Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic on bass.
It can be a challenge for musicians to play free music in sync with each other, but The Red Microphone manages to be a very tight, cohesive unit. The music started with a driving baseline and ethereal vibraphone sounds, and soon the two saxes came in playing in harmony, at times sounding like they were in different keys that nonetheless created a good sound, not unlike what Charles Ives might have written had he anticipated the free music of the ’60s or the Downtown flowering of the ’80s and beyond. The overall sound was rooted in modern avant-garde jazz, leaning towards the free end; the sounds of rock, hard bop, and even a hint of modern classical also could be heard in the mix. Right away, I noticed that there was a lot of communication between the band members, enabling them to move together as a single unit, changing rhythms, feel, and tempo with ease (or at least it looked that way to Yours Truly, watching from the audience). Themes would appear, bounce around, make an impression, and vanish into the ether like a pair of virtual particles in sub-Planck time. The band members took turns taking the lead, with tenor man/flautist Ras Moshe playing bluesy, uplifting solos with a definite undertone of urgency just beneath (and often breaking) the surface. Throughout the set, the band showed a talent for evolving pieces, with individual instruments coming in and out over time as the music grew.
