Photo by Dawoud Kringle
Date: January 2, 2017
Venue: Bowery Electric
Concert review by Dawoud Kringle
On the cold damp night in the second day of 2017, I left the comfort of my home, and ventured downtown to the Bowery Electric where Lindsey Wilson and the Human Hearts Trio was playing.
Interview by DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY
I had the opportunity to interview Iranian musician Kaveh Haghtalab. He has been contributing music, sounds and rhythms with his kamancheh and drum skills to the New York’s music scene since 2012. His views on the music scene and business in his native Tehran and in New York City bring a fresh and informative view of our business and art.
DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY (DBD): Kaveh, it’s good of you to join us. Please let’s start with your background. You’re Iranian, originally from Tehran. What did you do before coming here? What made you come to New York City in 2012, and what have you been doing since your arrival?
Kaveh Haghtalab (KH): Thanks for having me here at DooBeeDooBeeDoo.
Trump’s people are finding it impossible to find anyone to perform at the presidential inauguration on January 20th, 2017. John Legend, Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, Elton John, Kiss, Garth Brooks, Céline Dion, Andrea Bocelli, and even several Washington DC high school marching bands (who’d performed for the inaugurations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama) turned him down. This, despite being offered exorbitant fees.
The situation is such that Trump’s people have gone so far as to offer ambassadorships to talent agents who could secure an A-List performer. The desperation in the act is appalling, indicative of the low moral character of Trump and his people, and the pitiful estimation people have of him.
However, there is also the factor of Trump’s reputation. Musicians will negotiate a contract to be hired for the inauguration. After the gig, Trump and his people might refuse to pay the musicians. This is keeping with his consistent pattern of dishonest business ethics. Trump would doubtless justify this by saying something like “I wanted this inauguration to be tremendous, and it was. It was really tremendous. It was the best inauguration ever. But the music was bad, I mean, they were really bad, these musicians. These are bad musicians. They didn’t do a good job, it’s that simple.” His people will offer the performers, maybe 30-40% of the previously agreed upon remuneration, reminding them that it will cost them more in legal fees to sue (and, to add insult to injury, expecting them to be happy with the “honor” of performing for Trump).
The NYC Winter JazzFest will take place January 5th through January 10th, 2017, with about 140 groups performing different kind of jazz music across 13 different stages. As always, the most busiest days of the festival are the “Winter Jazzfest Marathons” on January 6th and January 7th.
Since its founding in 2005, Winter JazzFest has cemented a reputation as a hotbed of cultural discovery, presenting new and exciting sounds and scenes throughout New York.
Text by Dawoud Kringle
This continued series explores the relation between jazz and Islam. In this installment, I am continuing the presentation of the biographies of Muslim jazz artists.
Idris Muhammad was born Leo Morris in New Orleans (1939-2014). He began playing the drums at age 8. Before he reached the age of 21, he’d recorded with Sam Cooke and Jerry Butler, and was a respected session drummer for record labels such as Imperial, Specialty, and Ace. In the 1960s his music experienced a profound change due to the influence of John Coltrane. This led to a synthesis of R&B and jazz. He worked with Lou Donaldson 1965-67. In 1969-73 He worked as drummer for the Broadway musical “Hair” and 1970-72, he was the house drummer for Prestige Records. His releases as a leader include “Black Rhythm Revolution”, “Peace and Rhythm”, “Kabsha”, “My Turn”, and “Right Now”. Muhammad has performed or recorded with Larry Williams, Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfeild, Sonny Stitt, Charles Earland, Gene Ammons, Pharoah Saunders, Roberta Flack, John Hicks, Randy Weston, Jamil Nassr, John Scofield, Roberta Flack, Johnny Griffin, George Coleman, Randy Brecker, his wife, vocalist Sakinah Muhammad, and countless others.
