Tickets for the Friday and Saturday performances by the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra of Falafel, Freilach, & Frijoles: From Mambo to Borscht will be at the box office of Symphony Space. The box office opens at 1pm on both days. Symphony Space is located at 95th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.
If you would like to attend please go to the box office and request a ticket. There will be assigned seating and everyone must have a ticket.
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2012
Time: 8pm – 9pm
Venue: ShapeShifter Lab (18 Whitwell Pl, between Carroll St & 1st St,Brooklyn, NY 11215, 646-820-9452)
Ticket: $11
On Thursday, November 1, 2012 Downbeat Rising Star Sylvain Leroux will present a live performance of his latest project “Quatuor Creole” featuring legendary vibist Karl Berger. Released in June, the CD has been well received by critics, eliciting such comments as: “… perfect contemporary music release…” (Dustin Garlitz, JazzTalent.com); “… gentle as a river in the afternoon sun.” (Thurston Hunger, KFJC); “… worthy addition to the canon of the world- jazz…” (Hrayr Attarian, All About Jazz); “… mellifluous acoustic quality…” (Howard Mandel, Jazz Beyond Jazz); “…belongs to a lineage of precious recordings […] such as CoDoNa, Oregon, Steve Wilson, Don Cherry, Dollar Brand and Chico Hamilton…” (Dan Behrman, Magazine Son & Image–translated from the French).With Quatuor Creole, Leroux reexamines the fusion of European and African music that took place in the Americas and informs it with his deep experience.
Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
Unfortunately I missed the AL-MADAR show at The Stone on Friday, October 5, 2012 because I was still in Tokyo. As you might remember AL-MADAR was opening up for my band SoSalA at at the CD release party at Nublu in March. Since that show the band has went through member changes. Al-Madar became a new 5-piece instrumental band of the New York Arabic Orchestra, fronted by Bassam Saba of Lebanon , a renowned figure of Arabic music and director of the New York Arabic Orchestra. performing on the oud, saz, nay, and western flute and violin, in collaboration with Arabic percussionist and drummer April Centrone, joined by guitarist Gyan Riley, Timba Harris on violin/viola and trumpet, who’s also a member of one of my favorite bands the Secret Chiefs 3, and the versatile electric bassist Brian Holtz.
Bassam Saba and his NY Arabic Orchestra has been featured in DooBeeDoo a couple of times for the last two years. I’m actually surprised that Saba joined this ensemble because usually, as far as I know him, he wouldn’t play at small clubs like the STONE. Guess his young members convinced him to join and be the leading part of this ensemble.
Watching and listening to the videos this ensemble plays a mix of Arabic music to Afro Beat and progressive rock. What is missing is a human voice which would express an important element of Arabic music: melancholy.
Text and photo by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
The reason for my trip to come to Tokyo, as you already know, was to attend my wife’s mother funeral who passed away recently. As usual I took one of my horns with me, this time it’s my soprano saxophone, which is smaller and lighter than my tenor saxophone. I had no idea, how my sax would get involved in my life in Tokyo. Of course no concerts were planned by me and playing on Tokyo streets was out of question.
In the morning of the day when I was going to say my farewell to my mother-in-law before the cremation, I went to the Sozen-Ji Temple near by. I took my soprano with me. When approaching the temple the Kannon worship ceremony had already started. I did my prayer which was dedicated to my wife and her mother. After the ceremony I took a walk in the temple site and sat down on a bench on the east side of the temple complex. It was a lovely morning, around 6:30am. I just observed the people around me who were mostly elderly people, some joggers and young Chinese women who seemed to live and work here.
After a while I got the impulse to play my sax…a musical ode to my mother-in-law. A piece of music which would take off the fear from her and would make her “hot” trip to the other world easier and faster. I recorded the music with my iPhone.
Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
Since coming to New York I have played with many drummers, but there is one drummer who I haven’t played with yet, but would love to: Dafnis Prieto. Whom I have already introduced to you, my dear reader, last year in this post.
What I love about Prieto is that he transposes elements from his Afro-Cuban musical background, rumba and son, into a jazzy drumming style incorporating congas and timbales in his playing. He’s able to to play very complex, poly rhythmic structures with extraordinary speed and precision. No wonder he’s one of Michel Camilo’s favorite drummers!
He’s putting out a new CD and here is his EPK to it. Very well produced. In the next DooBeeDoo music listings I will announce his CD release event dates at the Jazz Standard in NY.
