Category Archives: Musicians

Al-Madar at The Stone in NYC on Friday, October 5, 2012

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.

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Tokyo Report P.5: my only encounter with live music in Tokyo – Andy Bevan & STEWMAHN

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

It took me 42 days in Tokyo to meet Andy Bevan, an Australian Jazz musician who’s been living and playing music in Tokyo for a long, long, long time. I heard about him through a NY music colleague who’s a friend of him. During the 42 days I missed two gigs of him, but finally on the 42nd day I had the time to go to his show at the Saravah Tokyo club in Shibuya. To get to the club I took the subway, the Ginza line, from Asakusa to Shibuya, crossed the famous intersection in Shibuya and walked a couple of blocks north towards the Bunka Mura. However it took me some time to find the club. Even the Google map couldn’t help me out?! I had to use my inspiration and feeling to find the club.

When I was at the door of the club a sign told me that Andy was playing with Masaki Hayashi ‘s STEWMAHN: Masaki Hayashi on piano, who’s also the leader, Toru Nishijima on bass and violin, Akira Horikoshi on drums and my brother Andy Bevan on soprano and tenor sax, didgeridoo and various flutes.

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Kickstarter Campaign: globalFEST – 10th anniversary of the groundbreaking world music festival + non-profit organization. Now year-round.

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.

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Tokyo Report P.4: my sax sound joins my mother-in-law on her trip to heaven?

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.

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Recommended Kickstarter Campaign: recording of compositions for piano and shakuhachi by the Japanese composer Rando Fukuda played by Marco Lienhard and Charles Tang!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

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.

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