Author Archives: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Professional Musician Fighting Against Climate Change

Marc Schmied 1Text by Marc Schmied

Greetings – My name is Marc Schmied and I’m a new member of MFM. I’ve been playing acoustic and electric bass professionally in the NYC area for about 25 years. I love playing different styles – currently I’m playing with Tommy Tune (covering the Great American Songbook), a funky rock band (Tamika & The Slay), a classical string quartet (The Iris Quartet), and whatever theater work comes my way. I’m also active in a grassroots environmental group that fights against climate change, 350brooklyn.org.

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The Need for a Revision of the Concept of Musical Professionalism

Text by Dawoud Kringle

Bern NixSeveral weeks before this writing, guitar master Bern Nix passed away. He was an elder master with astonishing musical abilities, and an impressive resume behind him. Yet he was in poverty, living in dire straits for years. His is an old story that seems to keep repeating itself. 

This myth of the inevitability of the “starving artist” is self perpetuating. It seems that people on all sides of the equation have it so ingrained into their subconscious that it’s almost expected that musicians be impoverished, ignored, and mistreated. 

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Geri Allen: MFM Salutes The Maestra’s Memory and Legacy

Text by Dawoud Kringle

Geri AllenOn Tuesday, June 27th, 2017, pianist, composer, and music educator Geri Allen died. The cause of death was reported to be cancer. She was 60 years old.

Her work has earned her a reputation as one of the world’s finest jazz pianists.

Geri Antoinette Allen was born on June 12, 1957 in Pontiac, Michigan, and raised in Detroit. She began studying the piano at age seven and went on to graduate from Cass Technical High School, (the alma mater of Paul Chambers, Wardell Gray, Gerald Wilson and Donald Byrd).

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