Category Archives: Reviews

Michelle Shocked Chairs

Michelle Shocked at City Vineyard (NY): Musical Chairs and What Happens When the Music Stops?!

Michelle ShockedDate: February 13, 2018
Venue: City Vineyard (NY)

Concert review by Dawoud Kringle Photos courtesy of Michelle Shocked

To say that Michelle Shocked is an iconoclast in the service of fairness and righteousness is an understatement. Her music and artistic vision was born of a constant struggle to remain true to herself and her vision. From the beginning of her musical career in 1984, she has explored a great variety of styles, and has been difficult to pin down. Her music has explored folk, rock, big band, and Latin. Throughout, she has remained true to a core belief in fairness, justice, and balance in a world either subtly or directly opposed to this. She has released 13 albums as a leader, was awarded Folk Album of the Year at the CMJ New Music Awards ceremony in 1989, and is a current member of Musicians for Musicians (MFM).

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Mehmet Polat “Ageless Garden” CD Isssss Outttt!

Mehmet PolatArtist: Mehmet Polat
Title: Ageless Garden
Label: Aftab Rec
Genre: oriental music/oud music

Review by Dawoud Kringle

The word “Hasret”is an Urdu word (derived from the Arabic word “Hasrah”) meaning “unfulfilled wish,” and a popular term for Urdu poets in India and Pakistan. “Hasret,” is also the first track on Mehmet Polat’s new CD Ageless Garden. The opening notes of Polat’s oud speak in a quiet yet authoritative voice against a subtle percussion background. As the piece progresses, unusual melodies and startling harmonies create an emotional intensity that eloquently expresses the longing within an unfulfilled desire. It ends with a return to the introductory melodies, except with a sad resignation.

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Tommy Smith

Concert Review: Spirit of light by Tommy Smith, featuring Kurt Elling

And the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and Cappella Nova

Date: December 17, 2017
Venue: St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland

Review and photographs by Fiona Mactaggart

Rugged up against the bone-chilling cold in the Scottish capital’s visually and acoustically impressive St Mary’s Cathedral, the full-house audience seem aware they are in for something special. The two-part concert begins with a clear as ice spoken introduction from esteemed New York – based jazz singer and previous collaborator with Tommy Smith and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO), Kurt Elling. With appropriate gravitas, Elling explains that this concert will be “a modern meditation on the delirium that visits us at this season”, and that it would be no regular jazz gig.

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SoSaLa

The Long Hiatus has Broken: SoSaLa Returns

“I went to see the musician, Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi of SoSaLa a few nights ago, and I must say, that I was totally impressed by his honesty and sincerity.
That’s perhaps one of the things that is missing in many practitioners of the music.
It was quite refreshing to experience his concert presentation.
Billy Harper

PS. It is sometimes good to get “outside of oneself” and see what someone else may be experiencing about his music.”

Date: December 20, 2017
Venue: CA Music Room (NY)

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Digital Album Release by George Crotty and Kirk Starkey “Vidi Aquam”

Vidi AquamArtist: George Crotty and Kirk Starkey
Title: Vidi Aquam
Label: self produced
Genre: electronica/nu music

CD Review by Dawoud Kringle

Vidi Aquam is the name of an antiphon (a short Psalm-texted chant), which is sung during the Roman Catholic Mass. It is also the tiltel of the recent release of the collaborative project between George Crotty and Kirk Starkey.

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