Author Archives: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Fred Ho left us…peace!

Photo courtesy of John Pietaro

Photo courtesy of John Pietaro

Text by John Pietaro

I was so very sorry to hear of Fred Ho’s passing. We had many contacts over the last couple of decades and shared performance and/or speaking engagements a few times. He was irascible and loved debates of any and every kind; he left NO prisoners! That energy allowed him to fight off this illness for so long. We last saw each other at the first Russell Maroon Shoats fundraiser at St Mary’s Church a couple of years ago where he played a powerhouse solo bari piece that illustrated none of the physical strain he was going through. I was a part of the ensemble led by Salim Washington and we performed a piece of Fred’s but he sat out that section of the gig as he was too exhausted after his solo piece. He rocked the rafters. Still, he had the passion and drive to smile so hard when he saw the musicians that he filled the hall with a warmth that made us feel a very deep love. Fred’s heart was as big as his tenacity.

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Debate Over Noise Ordinance Has New Orleans Up In Arms…“Music is not a crime!”

Text by DJ Ruby (DooBeeDoo’s New Orleans contributor)

Photo by Alex Woodward

Photo by Alex Woodward

In New Orleans the debate surrounding changes to the city’s noise ordinance continues to divide the city. The polemics surrounding the most recent set of changes to the city’s laws regarding sound began in December of 2013 when the New Orleans city council proposed restricting the decibel levels permissible in public space to their 1997 levels. The debate has made clear that the roots of this struggle run deep and has raised interesting questions about culture and preservation in the City That Care Forgot.

For bystanders the morning of January 17th might have appeared to be something of a celebration, but for those who participated, the demonstration at City Hall was an expression of complicated and layered feelings around the newest proposed sound ordinance. The collective voice of local musicians and their supporters echoed in the face of what has felt like a continuous effort to quiet them down, nevertheless progress on negotiations was stalled. On that morning City Hall was meant to accommodate a public hearing regarding the proposed changes to the noise ordinance that had undergone increasing scrutiny since its proposal in December. Musicians, residents and lawmakers were poised to present their cases in the chambers after months of discussion. But on the evening of the 16th the hearing was abruptly cancelled. The further postponement of a debate that has been affecting the cultural community for some time now felt like another rebuff and many felt that postponement was a tactic to lessen the traction gained by the musical community in the months leading up to the hearing.

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Music Activism: Parade of One Update

Photo courtesy of Jeremy Danneman

Photo courtesy of Jeremy Danneman

Text by Jeremy Danneman

Dear Friends,

Rwandans and much of the rest of the world are now commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, when nearly a million innocent people were murdered for their ethnicity or for being political dissidents. That means it’s also the fifth anniversary of the Parade of One project, when I first went to Rwanda to share my music and myself with others and to invite people to share themselves with me as well.

I would now like to share with you a tune I wrote commemorating the Rwandan Genocide. It’s titled Murambi Blues after the Murambi Genocide Memorial where thousands of innocent victims rest today. For a limited time only, this composition will be streaming on the Parade of One website. Some of you may remember me performing an unaccompanied version of this song at the United Nations Church Center for the 16th anniversary of the genocide.

I wish those friends of mine who were affected by the events twenty years ago a peaceful commemoration. Continue reading →

Online Piracy Finally In the Crosshairs by William Buckley Jr. HuffPo

by trichordist

Written in 1998, with the intent of protecting both copyright holders and website owners, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, quickly became a devastating problem for copyright holders. Not coincidentally, barely a year later, in 1999, Shawn Fanning launched Napster, marking the beginning of online piracy and over a decade of artist abuse.

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CD Review: SEHRANG – Ancient Storytelling Reborn In The 21st Century And Creating An Intimate Experience

Sehrang CD Artist: SEHRANG
Title: Dar Lahze
Label: self published
Genre: nu Iranian music/jazz

Review by Dawoud Kringle

Despite the image the news would have us believe, Iran is a treasure trove of beauty and tradition. The flow of great music and art from the Persian people never seems to exhaust itself. The marvellous thing is that the artistic community of Iran is not content to rest on its considerable laurels; there is always new and innovative ideas contributing to the centuries of tradition. SEHRANG (a Farsi word meaning tri-olored), the Vienna based trio of Golnar Shahyar (vocals), Mahan Mirarab (guitar) and Shayan Fathi (drums and percussion) proved this with their CD Dar Lahze. Using elements of traditional and modern Persian music, and original lyrics and classical poetry, SEHRANG creates an intimate experience.

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