Category Archives: Concert And Event Reviews

Concert Review: Mem Nahadr..there seems nothing she can’t sing. At times delicate and soft, and other times powerful and indomitable. And always beautiful.

Date: December 5, 2013
Venue: Silvana (NY)

Silvana, a new venue in Harlem owned by the same people who own The Shrine is becoming the new scene for fine music in Harlem.  One can hear some marvelous music every night. One such night happened when Mem Nahadr and her band performed.

Mem Nahadr – (also known as M. Nahadr, “Madwoman” and simply “M”. The name NAHADR meaning “Divine LIght’) – is an internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter, performance artist  film composer, author,  independent filmmaker and multidisciplinary video/sonic visionary. Some of her work includes the performance of Butterfly (by Yoko Kanno and Chris Mosdell) for the soundtrack to Cowboy Bebop , a musical compilation entitled: Eclectic Is M, her Off-Broadway performance art piece  Madwoman: A Contemporary Opera, and her new Modern Opera entitled: Femme Fractale: An Opera of Reflection.

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Concert Review: Underground Horns’ performance exuded superlative musical skill

The Underground HornsVenue: Drom (NY)
Date: December 28, 2013

Review by Dawoud Kringle

On an unseasonably warm winter night, in the subterranean comfort of Drom, the Underground Horns (describing themselves as “a 6-piece brass band playing afro funk bhangra new Orleans Latin grooves and beyond”) came out swinging with a heavy fisted, heavy grooving rendering of Mingus’ “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.” The arrangement was so unlike the original that one may have been taken aback, had it not been so skilfully executed and utterly enjoyable to listen to.

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Concert Review: Lauren Lee Jazz Project – a boundary-pushing ensemble led by Lauren Lee, a highly skilled and very imaginative pianist and singer

Venue: Silvana (Harlem, NY)
Date: November 13, 2013

Review by Dawoud Kringle

avatars-000046321890-hsrjob-t200x200Silvana has been bringing in some interesting musical groups. On a cold mid-November night, Lauren Lee (piano/vocals), Jimmy Lopez (electronic percussion), and Charley Sabatino (bass) hit the stage.

Lee set the tone with a vocal melody of jazzy, mellow feel, which was answered on piano by a reharmonized chord melody. The song started to take on a bossa nova jazz; but insisted upon inverting itself like a Möbius strip. What was interesting was how the two diametrically opposed structures, classic jazz and free jazz existed side by side; distinct and separate, yet fitting comfortably with each other.

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Concert review: The Kominas – Taqwacore Invades The Lower East Side!

kominas 2013Venue: Pianos (NY)
Date: December, 2013

Review by Dawoud Kringle

One December night, people jammed into the main room of the Lower East Side’s music venues Pianos NYC.  The Kominas, a Pakistani/American/Muslim Taqwacore Punk group who’d come to national attention after the publication of Michael Muhammad Knight’s groundbreaking novel The Taqwacores were playing as part of South Asian Film Festival.

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Concert Review: Renegade Sufi & Truculently Audacious…both bands are definitely worth seeking out and enjoying for fans of creatively eclectic music.

Venue: Drom (NY)
Date: November 24, 2013

Concert review and photos by Matt Cole and Linda Boney

On Sunday, the 24th of November, I caught an enjoyable double bill of Dawoud Kringle‘s eclectic ensemble Renegade Sufi and Holly Cordero‘s jazzy project Truculently Audacious at Alphabet City’s Drom. Though different stylistically on the surface, these two bands nonetheless went quite well together.

Truculently Audacious (Photo by Matt Cole)

Truculently Audacious
(Photo by Matt Cole)

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