Longital, Slovakia’s fav. indie duo, don’t believe in coincidences and live life trusting that nothing happens by chance. Magical accident, one after another, have shaped their sound and led them to their musical success. These perfect mishaps in disguise are now bringing them across the ocean for their debut US tour, and you can check ’em out in New York on March 3rd and March 9th (see event details below).
Salif Keita‘s voice is one other mortals can only aspire to. A searing tenor that somehow sounds gritty and glorious all at once, it’s a complicated instrument that transcends language barriers, and with its subtle shadings offers solace and succor, joy and even redemption. It’s not for nothing that Keita is known as the golden voice of Mali.
Given Salif Keita’s incredible talent, it was inevitable that one day music would take him back to his homeland, despite the hardships he once faced there. Recently, that inevitability came to pass. With a 35-year career behind him, Keita returned home to record his latest release, M’Bemba, in Bamako in the studio “Moffou” he had built by the River Niger.
Date: Tuesday February 23rd
Time: 9 pm – 10 pm
Venue: Nublu (62 Avenue C and E.4th St.)
Ticket: $10.00
2. INDRA
ImageNation and Society of Lincoln Center present the NYC Premiere of RiseUp, a cinematic journey into the heart of Jamaica where artists fight to rise up from obscurity and write themselves into music history. Directed by Luciano Blotta, RiseUp features reggae legends Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, and many rising starts including Turbulence.
This special premiere opens with a live performance by Judah Tribe and ends with a director Q&A and discussion on reggae music and its global influence.
Thursday 25th at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater. Reception at 6pm, program at 7pm. For tickets go to http://www.imagenation.us/pages/main.htm
Text by Augusta Palmer
On Tuesday February 23rd at 9 pm THE TEHRAN-DAKAR BROTHERS will play their first set of 2010 at Nublu (62 Avenue C and E.4th St.) in the East Village. The band is as international as its leader, Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, an Iranian raised in Germany who came to New York in 2008 after two decades in Tokyo. The current line-up includes Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, who plays a searing saxophone and serves as an unconventional vocalist; Derek Nievergelt, whose intense bass playing combines with the drumming of Swiss Chris to create an insistent and transfixing groove; and guitarist Alejandro Castellano, who has only recently joined the band.
Sohrab describes his band’s music as “Nu World Trash.” The “Nu,” a stand-in for “new,” refers to the band’s unique re-interpretation of the past and the roots of human experience to suit contemporary needs. “World” indicates the truly global reach and influences of The Tehran-Dakar Brothers, which blends melodies from Iran with African and African-American rhythms. Sohrab’s playing has drawn admiration from Salif Keita and Ornette Coleman, who are also two sources of inspiration for the band. ”Trash” means that the band is not afraid to play music that is neither “nice” nor immediately accessible. He’s not interested in playing music as background or vapid entertainment. Instead, he says he’s not afraid to use any idiom from punk to free jazz in order to get his musical point across. Their music can be very beautifully lyrical or edgy, loud, aggressive, and angry.
