Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery, September 9th, 2024)
“Part of the Union” Song by The Strawbs, from the album Bursting at the Seams (1973)
Now I’m a union man
Amazed at what I am
I say what I think
That the company stinks
Yes, I’m a union man.
Album Review by Dawoud Kringle
Artist: Philip Ellis Foster
Title: The Cosmos Project
Label: self-released
Format: Digital
Genre: experimental/avant-garde music
Stream and buy here: https://philipellisfoster.bandcamp.com/album/the-cosmos-project
In the realm of experimental avant-garde music, Philip Ellis Foster has carved out his niche.
Review by Dawoud Kringle
Artist: Peterpeter
Title: Heavy Traffic
Format: single (digital)
Label: self-produced
Genre: experimental/electronics/improv/progressive rock
MFM members Peter Wetzler and Peter Einhorn from Kingston (NY) have teamed up to bring us some very fascinating music.
Keyboardist, composer, and writer Peter Wetzler is not sure how he became interested in music. He relates the story his mother told him of when he was five, she brought him near a beehive to hear the “music of the bees.” With a background in classical piano and an eclectic spectrum of musical influences, he has worked extensively in film, television, theater, dance, and music education. He was quoted as saying “My music merges emotion and intuition.”
Review by Dawoud Kringle
Artist: Vanessa Falabella
Title: Yacht Rock N’ Bossa
Label: Falabella Music
Format: CD and digital
Genre: Yacht Rock N’ Bossa
Those of you who are close to the MFM Circle, and readers of this publication, are no strangers to Vanessa Falabella. Born in Minas Gerais, Brazil (also the hometown of Milton Nascimento), Falabella has had an impressive career. She has recorded and performed with Gato Barbieri, Philippe Saisse, Sadao Watanabe, Cyro Baptista, Jason Miles, Will Lee, Eumir Deodato, Rick Braun, Marcus Viana, The Rain Forest Band, César Camargo Mariano, Hiram Bullock, and EMI group project Criara with film score producers Frank Ferrucci and Scott Lehrer. Earlier this year, she appeared on Nu-Bossa Elixir by Future350, featuring the head of MFM’s Hudson Valley chapter Stephen Johnson. She’s also a proud member of MFM.
Her latest release, Yacht Rock N’ Bossa, which was produced and arranged by Marcelo Lima, is a well-executed collection of twenty beautifully written and produced songs. Yacht rock is a music style and aesthetic associated with soft rock or smooth jazz. It was one of the most commercially successful genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.
A Music Review by Dawoud Kringle
Artist: Sandra Izsadore
Title: Glass House
Label: SMB Entertainment
Format: digital single
Genre: Afrobeat/Reggae
Singer, songwriter, dancer, former Fela Kuti’s band member, activist, and MFM member Sandra Izsadore has released a new single.
