DBDBD NY – cross-cultural on-line magazine – believes based on the view that music and community are indivisible that a social awareness can be fostered through music.
Date: December 19, 2012 Venue: the STONE Review by Dawoud Kringle
On a cold night close to Christmas, and close to December 21, bassist/composer/ bandleader Damon Banks appeared at The Stone.
Damon Banks is a well known bassist in New York who has worked with Miki Howard, Hassan Hakmoun, Karsh Kale, George Benson, SoSaLa, and many others. On this night, he was joined by Graham Haynes (trumpet), Manu Koch (keys), Bruce Cox (drums), and Brian Prunka (guitar and oud. Prunka also plays with Banks in SoSaLa and leads his own band Nashaz).
On 12/21/12, the Mayan calendar came to an end. Many people thought the world would end on that day (and some made a pile of money from that fear). Some new age adherents interpreted the event (which was based on an actual astronomical phenomenon: the ancient Mayans were very good with observational astronomy) as signaling a shift in human consciousness; the beginning of an apotheosis.
In New York City, at the Hotel Pennsylvania, the Meta Center of New York, and New Life magazine and expo joined forces to present an event to celebrate this. They featured several people who offered a variety of presentations revolving around this theme / event.
However, there was, as I understand it, a last minute addition to the program. This was an impromptu duet between new age musician David Young, and multi-instrumentalist, iconoclast Dawoud.
Date: November 16, 2012 Venue: The New York Insight Meditation Center
Review by Dawoud Kringle
The New York Insight Meditation Center recently hosted a concert by sitar virtuoso Ikhlaq Hussain. Hussain is a musician of the Dehli gaharana (whose lineage dates back to Hazrat Amir Khousro), who plays in Gaykali Ang, a style wherein the instrument takes on the expressive qualities of vocal music. He was taught by his father Ustad Imdad Khan, and by Pandit Ravi Shankar. He performed in US, Europe, Middle East, UK, Pakistan, & India.
Date: November 10, 2012 Venue: Le Poisson Rouge By Dawoud Kringle
On Saturday, November 10, 2012, Le Poisson Rouge played host to the9th Annual Encuentro NYC Colombian Music Festival. The festival, produced by Pablo and Anna Mayor, was brilliantly conceived, and efficiently executed. The musical acts covered an astonishing spectrum of different styles and combinations of genres. It was announced that a percentage of CD sales donated to hurricane relief effort in New York.
In American music history studies, much has been said about the influence Latin music had on jazz. It works both ways. One of the very noticeable things was how the music the groups offered shows clearly how deeply American jazz influenced and changed the music of Latin America.
During my last week in Tokyo one of my favorite US bands played at the Stone in New York: the Secret Chiefs 3 (SC3) led by guitarist and composer Trey Spruance (formerly of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More). A band which fuses Persian music, surf rock, heavy metal, film music and electronics. Luckily I found videos of this show in YouTube. SC3 has always been a general name for several different bands. “Each representing a different aspect of a musical and philosophical intersection.” That night SC3 played under the name of Ishraqiyun, a six piece band with following members: Trey Spruance (guitar, saz), Ches Smith (drums), Timba Harris (violin, viola), Toby Driver (bass), Shahzad Ismaily (bass) and April Centrone (percussion). They mainly used Middle Eastern (Persian) melodies and rhythms adding sounds of western metal, surf rock, and noise.
Last year in November I had the chance to see this band for the first time at Le Poisson Rouge. Me as an Iranian this concert was a revelation: Trey proved that Iranian or Persian music can “rock” and can “move” US rock fans. After the show Trey I interviewed him backstage (watch the video here).
