40 deserving NYC youth will be given the chance to make 5 films this summer for FREE. You can support their creative journey.
Photo by DCTV
P-Funk legend Bernie Worrell needs a 15-seat touring van for his Bernie Worrell Orchestra to promote their new album, coming in 2013.
…Even if you’ve never heard of Bernie Worrell, the odds are better than good you’ve heard his music. As the virtuoso keyboardist and driving musical force behind Parliament-Funkadelic, Bernie is synonymous with the P-Funk legacy, from his fat Minimoog bass lines on “Flash Light” and “One Nation Under A Groove” to his percussive piano and synth runs on “Chocolate City” and “Give Up the Funk.” In 1997, Bernie and his P-Funk bandmates, including George Clinton and Bootsy Collins, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame―an honor that was long overdue….
Read more here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1522411554/a-touring-van-for-the-bernie-worrell-orchestra
Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
I have been knowing the singer-song writer Joanie Leeds for a while. She was my neighbor in my previous apartment building. And her husband Dan who’s a very talented drummer and playing in Joanie’s band became my friend later. In fact we have been sharing a studio in Williamsburg. Anyway…I think Joanie does a great job creating music for children and teaching them the essence of music. I think educating children about music is one of the few ways to create human beings for the future.
A child who really loves music and becomes a musician later can’t become inhuman. So we need young musicians like Joanie around us and I think we should support them emotionally and financially. So please check out her KICKSTARTER campaign and see whether you would like to be involved in this campaign.
Joanie’s message: “Hey Everyone! My name is Joanie Leeds and I am a nationally touring singer/songwriter from Brooklyn, NY specializing in Kindie-Rock (that’s kids music for y’all not hip with the lingo…yet)…My band Joanie Leeds & The Nightlights are putting out a new kids album called BANDWAGON. Get up on it and help make it a reality…”
Text by globalFEST
globalFEST (gF) began as a creatively curated bright spot for global music lovers in the dark days of early January in NYC. Over its first decade, gF’s groundbreaking annual 3‐stage, 12‐band world music showcase/festival has become one of the most catalytic world music events in North America and the premier gateway event for emerging and established artists from around the world.
globalFEST is also a party, turning winter doldrums into a multi-continent romp at one of downtown New York’s most historic venues, spotlighting artists who represent diverse global styles, ranging from traditional and folk to hybrid acts that incorporate classical, rock, jazz, electronic dance music and hip‐hop. Since 2003, gF has provided more than one hundred groups from around the world access to stages across North America. globalFEST is committed to keeping ticket prices low – with no increase in the past decade – to encourage festival-goers to explore new and unfamiliar sounds and discover new favorites.
The last six months have marked milestones in both organizational and programmatic development for globalFEST. Now an independent 501c3 non-profit organization, gF has grown from an annual showcase/festival into a year‐round resource for cultural curators, global music artists, and the live music industry as a whole.
I have known Marco Lienhard for more than thirty years. We met in Osaka, Japan, when we were thirty years younger. At that time I studied Kendo at a sports college and had just started playing sax. Marco, as far as I can remember, was an exchange student. We both were young and starting our adult lives far in the Far East. Both of us had no idea that we would stay in Japan for a very long time and would master a specific Japanese art. Marco is one of the first Europeans to learn and master the shakuhachi and taiko drum in Japan, and I myself become a Kendo master. In 2008 NY brought us together.
Recently Marco joined my band SoSaLa on shakuhachi.
